Wizard Force
by James Doyle
Summary: Drawn by a guarantee of becoming full wizards, Alex and Justin join the elite Wizard Force on a dangerous mission, combined with mortal forces, to face a deadly common enemy.
1. New Recruits

_This is the second story in my _Faster Than Life _series, and will be only loosely related to the others in the series._

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Chapter One: New Recruits

The members of the Russo family gathered in the lair one afternoon for their wizard lesson. As usual, Alex brought up the rear.

"Nice of you to join us, Alex," admonished Jerry Russo, sarcastically.

"Yeah, it's raining, so I figured I may as well," Alex retorted wittily.

As was his custom, Jerry ignored Alex's backtalk and continued with the lesson.

"Now, today we're having a special guest speaker," announced Jerry. The kids groaned with contempt.

"I promise, this one will be exciting," assured Jerry. "Today, we're hearing from Captain Warren Schiller of Wizard Force."

"No offense, dad," interrupted Justin, "But there hasn't be a wizard war in over a century. Wizard Force are just a bunch of pompous stuffed-shirts who trot themselves out for parades."

"Mmm, sounds like you'd fit right in," insulted Alex.

"Hold it right there!" commanded Jerry. "I won't have my kids disrespecting servicemen and women. Wizard Force is a sophisticated, disciplined, and highly-trained military organization that stands ready at all times answer any threat to the wizard world. I'll have you know that before I met your mother, I myself was considering a career in Wizard Force."

"Fine, we'll hear him out," conceded Alex.

Just then, the wizard crisis alarm sounded. Without warning, the Russo's disappeared in a hue of light beams standing on end with a thump-foom sound. A moment later, they found themselves standing in a large, cavernous room, with Neo-Gothic architecture that clashed badly with the fluorescent light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. As the Russo's looked around, they were surprised to find their mother in the room as well.

"That's not like any wizard teleport I've ever experienced," noted Theresa, still startled and short of breath.

"That's because it's an Asgard beam," said a familiar voice behind them.

"Professor Crumbs," greeted Alex, turning to face the man.

"It would behoove you to note my rank insignia, young lady," admonished Crumbs. The old wizard had exchanged his hat and robes for the distinctive Asian-style red-trimmed black jacket of a Wizard Force officer's uniform.

"Admiral Crumbs came out of retirement to help us deal with the current situation," elaborated another officer, a tall, broad-shouldered, squared-headed middle-aged fellow with recently-grayed hair and a warm smile. "Welcome aboard the wizard ship _Gandalf_. I'm Captain Warren Schiller, commander of this vessel."

"And just what situation would that be?" asked Jerry.

"We cannot tell you," replied Crumbs. "I can only say that at my recommendation, the Wizard Council has identified your two elder children as possessing skills useful to the success of this mission."

"Are you saying you want my kids to join Wizard Force?" deduced Theresa.

"That's affirmative, ma'am," confirmed Schiller.

"Absolutely not!" protested Theresa. "I won't have you making cannon fodder out of my children!"

"It's my understanding that it's not up to you," argued Alex.

"The young lady is correct," confirmed Schiller. "Section 72841, paragraph 23 of the Wizard code states that 'Any wizard aged sixteen years or older may, of his or her own free will, enlist for a term of service in Wizard Force, with or without parental consent.'"

"Okay, so I can't stop you," conceded Jerry. "But I still think you should wait until after the wizards' contest."

"Mr. Russo," admonished Crumbs. "I see you failed to inform your children of paragraph 24, or as it has come to be known, the 'Robert Heinlein clause.'"

"Robert Heinlein?" echoed Justin, hearing the name of one of his favorite authors.

"I see we have fan here," observed Schiller. "Then I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase 'Service guarantees citizenship.'"

"It's from the novel _Starship Troopers_," elaborated Justin. "It's about a society where the privileges of citizenship are earned through military service."

"Excellent," approved Schiller. "Paragraph 24 states that upon completion of basic military training, all enlistees in Wizard Force will be granted full wizard status, and in the event of an honorable discharge, will be exempt from the family wizard rule and thus allowed to retain said status."

"So if we join up, we don't have to compete in this stupid wizards' contest?" reiterated Alex.

"Quite right," confirmed Crumbs.

"Sweet," said Alex. "Sign me up!"

"You really shouldn't be so rash about this, Alex," cautioned Jerry.

"Indeed," agreed Crumbs. "A term of service in Wizard Force is a life of honor, dignity, and hard work."

"Exactly," argued Alex. "So instead of working hard for a _chance _to be a wizard, I can work hard at actually _becoming _a wizard."

"Much as I hate to admit it," added Justin, "I'm with Alex on this one."

"I still don't like it," protested Theresa.

"I can't say too much," assured Schiller, "But Wizard Force is mostly just coordinating this mission. It's highly unlikely your kids will actually see any combat."

"I don't know," doubted Theresa. "Jerry, what do you think?"

Jerry took his wife's hand. "Honey, I know it's dangerous, but being a wizard always is. I've taken them about as far as I can. This could be the best chance they ever have to spread their wings and really excel in their wizardry."

"What about me?" interjected Max, whose contentment with being ignored had finally reached its limit.

"This is good news for you too, Max," explained Jerry. "With your siblings out of the competition, as long as you can pass your final test, you're in."

Jerry looked at his wife, who with a certain sadness in her eyes, nodded her consent.

"Guys," said Jerry, turning to face Justin, Alex, and the two officers. "If this is what you really want to do, I won't stand in your way."

"Thanks dad," said Justin and Alex in unison as they ran up to hug their father. Theresa and Max joined in the embrace a moment later.

"When do we start?" asked Alex as the group hug broke up.

"We leave orbit in twelve hours," answered Schiller. "You can use that time to say goodbye to family and friends. We don't allow very many personal affects, but you can beam them up, as well."

The Russo family took the opportunity to visit the _Gandalf's _observation deck. As they arrived, Harper and Juliet joined them by Asgard beam.

"That was so cool!" exclaimed Harper.

"Harper, you've been teleported lots of times," noted Alex with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but that one was different," replied Harper, who then turned her attention to the view of Earth below. "Oh my gosh! That is so amazing!"

"You've been in space, too. Remember when I told you I was a wizard?"

"True," acknowledged Harper. "But I've never been on a space_ship_."

Alex smiled. "It is pretty cool when you think about it."

Harper's wonder turned to sorrow. "So you're leaving me behind and joining the military."

"Don't be sad, Harper," assured Alex. "It's only a two month tour. Once we've completed it, we're done. It's a piece of cake. I'll be back before you know it."

"You'd better be," pouted Harper. "It's going to be really boring only doing my own homework."

"I'm sure you'll managed," said Alex, drawing Harper in for a hug. "I'm really gonna miss you."

"I'm really gonna miss you, too," replied Harper, letting loose the tears, which prompted Alex to do the same.

"Juliet, I'm really sorry I didn't consult you about this," apologized Justin to his vampire girlfriend on the other side of the observation deck.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I were happy about that," admitted Juliet. "But it wouldn't be right of me to stand in the way of an opportunity like this."

Justin embraced his girlfriend tightly. "I love you, Juliet."

"I love you, too, Justin," she replied, beginning to cry. "You come home safe to me, you hear."

"You bet," replied Justin, himself beginning to mist up.

The time to say final goodbyes arrived, with Theresa and Jerry embracing their children in a final hug.

"I'm still not sure about this," confessed Theresa. "But I'm happy to see both of you growing up and taking on new responsibilities."

"We love you guys," said Alex on behalf of her and Justin.

"We love you, too," said Jerry on behalf of him and his wife.

Jerry, Theresa, and Max took their place beside Harper and Juliet, where Captain Schiller came to see them off.

"Don't worry," assured Schiller, shaking their hands in turn. "Your loved ones are in good hands."

"Thank you, Captain," said Theresa.

With that, the five of them beamed back to Earth.

Shortly thereafter, Schiller and the two Russo's were joined by another officer, a faun (which, in the wizard world, resembled a cross between a deer and an armadillo.)

"This Lieutenant Commander Hemeryn, my First Officer," introduced Schiller.

"Pleasure you have you aboard," greeted Hemeryn. "Are you prepared to take the oath?"

Justin and Alex nodded. Hemeryn administered the oath, after which he cast a spell that clad Justin and Alex in Wizard Force cadet uniforms.

"Welcome to Wizard Force," congratulated the Captain.

"Thank you, sir," they replied in unison, with Justin snapping a perfect salute, and Alex giving a less-than-wholehearted effort.

"We'll work on that," reacted Hemeryn with a sour look on his face.

"Commander, if you wouldn't mind showing them to their cabins," instructed Schiller.

"Aye, aye, sir," replied Hemeryn.

"Russo's, I will see you at the mission briefing."

As Schiller proceeded toward the bridge, Admiral Crumbs joined him in the corridor.

"You appear troubled, Captain," observed Crumbs.

"With all due respect, sir," explained Schiller. "I really didn't like having to lie to their parents."

"You did not deceive them," assured Crumbs. "As Mr. Russo so aptly observed, there are certain risks inherent to all wizardly activities."

"Very true, sir," agreed Schiller, "But I couldn't tell any of them just how dangerous this mission could be if it goes south."

"Then it would behoove you to see to it that the mission does not 'go south,'" admonished Crumbs. "Besides, I have known the Russo clan for centuries. A more resourceful lot, I've never met."

"I hope you're right, sir."

**End of Chapter One**

_I attempted to base Captain Schiller's appearance and personality on Bruce Boxleitner's portrayal of Captain John Sheridan of _Babylon 5.

_Stay tuned!_


	2. Training Begins

_A/N: Please be aware that while there will be a rapport between Colonel Sheppard and Alex Russo, it will be strictly non-romantic._

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Chapter Two: Training Begins

Justin waited in the training bay along with several other recruits. Alex arrived just in time. She noticed that she'd forgotten to don her uniform, and rectified the situation with a wave of her wand.

"Officer on deck," announced a voice coming through the door. The voice came from a short but muscular middle-aged man with a dark blonde crew cut, clad in battle fatigues with the triple chevrons of a Staff Sergeant upon his shoulder. Directly behind him came a slightly taller fellow with black hair and a dark complexion, clad in an officer's uniform with the gold oak leaf of a Major upon his collar.

"Stand tall, soldier," the sergeant admonished Alex. "Or you'll spend the rest of the day lashed to a post."

Considering how a wizard sergeant might accomplish this, Alex immediately straightened up.

"Good morning, recruits," greeted the Major in his British accent. "I'm Major Grimsby, commander of the infantry garrison aboard this vessel. We will reach our target objective in just under three weeks. Normally, this would be insufficient time to properly train you. However, Admiral Crumbs has personally selected all of you, so I expect nothing less than exemplary performance.

"This is Staff Sergeant Kovalchik. He will be your drill instructor, as well as your platoon sergeant when the operation commences. Now, did any of you think to bring your wands?"

Justin and Alex raised their wands. Grimsby raised a gloved hand, and the wants flew out of their hands in into his. He handed them to Kovalchik, who placed them in a box.

"Don't worry, they'll be returned to you when you're on leave," assured Grimsby. "The wand is the instrument of the civilian wizard. It is extremely useful, versatile, and powerful. It is, however, a tool, not a weapon."

Grimsby held up his glove. "The instrument of the wizard warrior is the gauntlet. You will learn and master a number of basic and advanced combat spells. Anyone not showing proper respect to their weapon will be dealt with harshly. You will also learn the rudiments of armed and hand-to-hand combat. If you have any questions, you may address them to your drill instructor. Sergeant Kovalchik, the recruits are yours."

"Thank you, Major," replied Kovalchik, who began his spiel as soon as Grimsby left. "Now, let's get one thing straight: Unlike the Major, I don't share the Admiral's glowing opinion of you pukes. Personally, I'd be ashamed to go into any _real _combat situation with a bunch of undisciplined, know-nothing kids like you. But you're my responsibility, and so help me, I'm gonna make soldiers out of you." Kovalchik picked up his gauntlet. "Now, just to see if any of you dragon turds were paying attention, what is this?"

A few recruits raised their hands, not including Alex, upon whom Kovalchik called.

"You, what's your name?" demanded Kovalchik.

"Um, Alex Russo...sir," Alex replied timidly, causing Kovalchik to get in her face.

"Do I look like a 'sir' to you?" barked Kovalchik.

"Um, kinda," whimpered Alex.

"I work for a living, Private," admonished Kovalchik. "From now on, you'll address me as 'Staff Sergeant.' Are we clear?"

"Yes, Staff Sergeant," whimpered Alex.

Kovalchik turned his attention to Justin.

"And who's this pretty-boy next to you?"

"Private Justin Russo, Staff Sergeant," replied Justin.

"Hell's bells, Private!" exclaimed Kovalchik. "How in the Sam Frak am I supposed to keep you two Russos straight?"

Kovalchik pointed at Justin. "From now on, you're Private Pretty-boy."

Alex giggled, causing Kovalchik to get in her face yet again.

"Do you think I'm funny?" demand Kovalchik.

"No...I mean, yes...I mean..." waffled Alex.

Kovalchik growled. "I'd tell you to grow a pair, but seeing as that's not possible, from now on, you're Private Dollface. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Staff Sergeant," replied Alex.

"Now, back to my original question," continued Kovalchik, striking Alex on the shoulder with his gauntlet. What is this device?"

"It's um..." Alex stumbled, "The glove we use to cast combat spells."

Kovalchik sighed. "I was hoping not to have to do this. Recruits: Right hands out, palms up."

The recruits held out their hands, and Kovalchik cast a spell, causing a condom to appear in each of their hands. A few minutes later, Kovalchik had issued each recruit a gauntlet, and had them marching around the training bay. As he lead them, he first held up his gauntlet, then the condom in his hand, chanting:

_This is my gauntlet; this is my glove._

The recruits chanted in response:

_This one's for fighting; this one's for love._

They continued marching and chanting for several more minutes. Once they'd finished, Kovalchik collected their gauntlets, then cast a spell creating an obstacle course in the training bay. The recruits lined up, and Kovalchik sent them two by two through the course.

"Dollface, Kim," called Kovalchik.

"Shouldn't we work up to something like this?" argued Alex.

"When you've got the chevrons, you can run this platoon any way you want," replied Kovalchik. "Since that'll never happen, _get your ass moving! Move, move, move!"_

Alex struggled over the obstacles, and found Private Kim several obstacles ahead of her. Not to be outdone, she discreetly cast a performance enhancement spell. She had almost caught up to Kim when Kovalchik telekinetically threw her off the obstacle, bringing her to a hard but safe landing at the back of the line.

"Back in line, Dollface!" ordered Kovalchik as Alex tried to make her way over to the recruits who had finished the course. As Alex got back in line, she found herself behind her brother.

"I swear, if he calls me 'Dollface' one more time..." muttered Alex through her teeth.

"You'll do what, Private?" interrupted Kovalchik.

"Nothing, Staff Sergeant," replied Alex.

"That's what I thought."

Alex watched as Justin struggled a bit, but completed the course through sheer determination. Believing she could do anything Justin could, Alex began the course once again. As she struggled over the various obstacles, she noticed that Kovalchik was moving people past her. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally finished the course.

"Okay," she panted. "I'm done. When's lunch?"

"Lunch ended ten minutes ago, Dollface," informed Kovalchik. "If you run, you might make it to the mission briefing on time."

Alex prepared to teleport herself to the briefing when Kovalchik caught her by the wrist.

"And if I ever catch you using magic without my authorization again, I'll have you outside cleaning the gun turrets with a mascara brush," threatened Kovalchik. "Are we clear, Private?"

Alex gulped. "Yes, Staff Sergeant. We're clear."

Kovalchik let go of her wrist, then pointed at the door. "Out of my sight!"

Alex arrived in the briefing room, where Justin had saved her a seat in the back row.

"You're lucky the instructor is running late," admonished Justin.

"Justin, this has been, bar none, the worst day of my life," complained Alex. "Do _not _frak with me!"

Justin was well-accustomed to his sister's responses to his criticisms being sarcastic and hurtful. Very rarely, however, had she ever been outright mean to him. It worried him. He had little time to consider it any further, however, as the instructor, a handsome, dark-haired fellow in his early forties, arrived.

"Good afternoon," greeted the officer. "I'm Colonel John Sheppard, United States Air Force, IOA Liaison to Wizard Force for this mission. Given my first-hand experience on the subject, Admiral Crumbs has asked me to brief you on the Wraith."

An image of a pale, waif-like creature with hideous teeth and yellow cobra eyes appeared on the screen.

"The Wraith are a species indigenous to the Pegasus Galaxy," continued Sheppard. "They're believed to have evolved when a parasite known as the Iratus Bug sampled and incorporated human DNA thousands of years ago. Like the bug, the Wraith derive sustenance by feeding upon the life-force energy of humanoids, similar to vampires...which I recently learned are real."

The recruits laughed at that remark. All, that is, except Justin and Alex. For Justin's part, it made him miss his Juliet. He also feared it would perpetuate the stereotypes commonly held by both mortals and wizards regarding vampires. Alex shared in these sentiments for the sake of Juliet, who was also her good friend. Furthermore, given the morning she'd had, she found very little amusing.

In any event, the revelry of the recruits came to an abrupt halt as footage played of the Wraith devouring scores of their mortal cousins, sucking the life-force out of them by applying a claw-like appendage to their victims' chests. The victims would age decades in mere seconds, and lose all of their fat and muscle tissue. These images continued until a Wraith attempted to feed upon a soldier, only to die gasping for breath as hideous boils erupted from its skin.

"That," continued Sheppard, "Was Marine Second Lieutenant Jeffrey Parisi. Can anyone tell me why Parisi is the one still standing and not the Wraith?"

Justin raised his hand. Sheppard took a moment to consult his seating chart.

"Russo," acknowledged Sheppard, pointing at Justin.

"Lieutenant Parisi is a wizard, sir," hypothesized Russo.

"That's affirmative, Private," confirmed Sheppard. "Parisi elected not to participate in his family's wizard contest so he could accept an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and pursue a career in the United State Marine Corps.

"As you all know, wizards are simply humans who have evolved to point of being able to interact with the magical world. It was through Lieutenant Parisi that we determined that persons with the wizard gene have an additional protein in their blood that triggers a fatal allergic reaction in the Wraith. It was through this discovery that the IOA established relations with the Wizard Council."

Sheppard brought up a picture of an elf who was almost completely bald, save for a narrow band around the back of his head.

"This elf is Ulysses Valenczak," continued Sheppard. "He served on the the Wizard Council for a number of centuries. He was always very distrustful of humans, and helped to institute the current population control policies. Eventually, as humans came to dominate the council, he was forced to resign. He was never seen or heard from again until a few months ago, when one of our operatives within the Genii spotted him in some sort of dealings with the Wraith.

"Since then, we've learned that he's secured the loyalty of at least two hives. Though his exile from the wizard world has put a serious damper on his power, but together with the Wraith, he's in a position to make all kinds of trouble for wizards and mortals."

"And that, soldiers, is the purpose of this mission," declared Sheppard. "Our primary objective is to apprehend Ulysses Valenczak: alive if possible; dead if necessary. Our secondary objective is to take control of the hive ships under his influence. Both objectives will be accomplished by several platoons of mortals and wizards, each accompanied by a Wizard Force mission specialist, who will detect and diffuse any magical booby-traps Valenczak may have set up. Once that's done, you new recruits will board the hive ships and maintain security until the ships can be delivered to a secure location for study.

"Now, your platoon leaders will brief you on the specifics, but that's the gist of it. Are there any questions?"

Sheppard fielded a number of questions, mostly of an academic nature, regarding the Wraith.

"Now, if there are no further questions, you're dismissed," concluded Sheppard.

"Why are you so glum?" asked Alex as she and Justin made their way to the barracks. "I thought this sort of thing was your shtick."

"Yeah, babysitting a spaceship after all the dust settles," whined Justin. "Yes, ma'am, they'll be writing songs about Private Pretty-Boy Russo for sure."

"Actually, I'm glad it's something stupid," added Alex. "That way we can get this over with and go home."

As much as Justin enjoyed tormenting his sister, and as little enthusiasm as he had for the mission, it pained him to see his sister so dejected.

"It's only been a day, Alex," encouraged Justin. "I'm sure it'll be easier once you get used to it."

"I hope so," replied Alex. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

**End of Chapter Two**


	3. The Battle Within

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Chapter Three: The Battle Within

Alex arose from her bunk one morning, and headed for the mess hall. It had taken some effort to get out of bed, for never in her life had she ever felt so exhausted, defeated, and humiliated. She met her brother Justin in the corridor. Though in better spirits than she, he looked nonetheless tired.

"Morning, Alex," greeted Justin.

"What's good about it?" she responded in all sincerity, not with the sarcasm that usually accompanied that retort.

"Ballistic spell training not go well?" asked Justin.

"You were there," replied Alex.

"Yeah, I guess I was."

In spite of how horribly she felt (or perhaps because of it,) Alex couldn't help but sympathize with the fatigue she clearly saw in her brother's face.

"Justin, did you actually get any sleep last night?" asked Alex.

"Sleep is for slackers," stated Justin. "The only way to get ahead in Wizard Force is to be the best. Period. Cutting corners and beating the system won't get you anywhere."

"Since when did this become about me?" defended Alex.

"Isn't it always about you?" argued Justin.

"No," countered Alex. "And I wish you wouldn't just assume that."

Justin sighed. "Come on, Alex," pried Justin. "What's really going on here?"

"You want to know what's going on here?" elaborated Alex. "What's going on here is I'm just not cut out to be a wizard."

"That's absurd, Alex," reacted Alex. "I've never seen anyone use magic like you."

"I use magic creatively," explained Alex. "But apparently, the wizard world doesn't reward creativity. No matter which path I take to being a wizard, it seems like I have to be disciplined, work my ass off, and conform to a lot of stupid rules. I'm starting to think it's just not worth it."

"So what?" asked Justin. "You're just going to give up and be a mortal?"

"What's so bad about that?" argued Alex. "So I die at eighty, so I can't bend the universe to my will. BFD! At least then I could do what I want with my life, and only have to live by one set of stupid rules instead of two."

Justin sighed. "Maybe you're right," granted Justin. "If you really think you'll be happier with that life, I won't stand in your way."

Alex could see the sincerity in her brother's eyes. It was times like these when she knew that, despite the animosity they harbored toward one another at times, Justin really did care about and want what was best for her. She hated these times in a way, because she knew it meant she had to at least try not to disappoint him.

"I'll try and get through this tour," promised Alex. "If I can't hack, I'll know for sure that wizardry isn't for me."

Justin nodded. "That seems fair."

The Russo siblings arrived in the enlisted mess, surprised to see two senior officers present, namely, Colonel John Sheppard, and Lt. Commander Hemmeryn. After acquiring their chop, they drifted toward their customary seats, as Justin preferred the company of the nerd contingent, whereas Alex preferred to eat alone.

Despite this preference, Colonel Sheppard surprised Alex by taking a seat directly across from her, prompting her to stand at attention.

"As you were, Private," Sheppard ordered with a hint of a chuckle.

"How are you this morning, sir?" asked Alex, not exactly sure how to conduct herself around him.

"Not bad, not bad," replied Sheppard. "What about you? You look like you're dragging ass."

At that moment, something snapped within Alex, and she couldn't help but my a sarcastic remark.

"Dragon ass?" said Alex. "No, trust me, you don't want to get anywhere near a dragon's ass."

Alex froze solid, utterly shocked at her inappropriate remark. She found herself even more surprised by Sheppard's response.

"Lemme guess," surmised Sheppard, "Their farts are as incendiary as their breath?"

"Worse," said Alex with a laugh, the tension having been broken. "So correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that officers aren't supposed to socialize with enlisted."

"Well," explained Sheppard, "In the kind of ops I run, those sorts of protocols tend to be a little counterproductive."

"And just what kind of ops do you run?" asked Alex.

"Interstellar guerrilla warfare," answered Sheppard. "Alien vessel infiltration. The sort of ops that would send your average grunt crying to his mommy."

"Sounds like it," said Alex.

"I've seen enough mean bush in the Pegasus Galaxy that someone in the Pentagon told somebody on the Wizards Council that I was an expert," continued Sheppard. "So here I am."

"In that case, I'm glad you're here," said Alex. "Sometimes I feel like the Wizards Council has lost touch with the real world."

"Believe me," sympathized Sheppard. "A lot of the time I feel the same way about the congressmen who sign my paycheck."

Meanwhile, over at the nerds' table, Hemmeryn had taken a seat. Justin couldn't help but fixate on the strange-looking concoction on the faun's tray.

"Something interest you about my breakfast, Private?" asked Hemmeryn with a twitch of the eyebrow.

"Um, yes, sir," answered Justin. "I was curious as to the composition of your beverage."

"Here," offered Hemmeryn, handing him the cup. "Try some."

Not being in any position to argue, Justin took the cup and took a sip. It tasted positively vile, and he spat it out into his empty coffee mug, eliciting uproarious laughter from everyone around him, including Hemmeryn.

"What the hell is this stuff?" demanded Justin, too grossed-out to care about protocol.

"It's a digestive supplement," explained Hemmeryn. "Most humans find cud-chewing offensive. I drink this stuff so I don't have to."

"So with all due respect, sir," asked Justin. "What brings you to the enlisted mess? Other than playing pranks, I mean."

"I like to get to know some of the recruits," explained Hemmeryn. "Helps break down some of the tension between the two branches of the Force. So tell me about yourself, son. How do like basic?"

"Honestly, sir," answered Justin. "It's a bit of a disappointment."

"Well, it's supposed to be hard, son," argued Hemmeryn.

"No, I don't mind that part," clarified Justin. "It's just...I was hoping serving aboard a spaceship would be a little more...technical."

"Technical, huh?" noted Hemmeryn.

"Yeah," confirmed Justin. "And _Gandalf _is a fine ship."

"I like to think so," boasted Hemmeryn. "Tell me what you know about her."

Justin went on to explain about the eight naquidah generators (two for operations, two to power the magical power plant, and four to power the interstellar hyperdrive,) sublight thrusters, structural design, and the ingenious way in which the ship's systems combined magic with Goa'uld, Ancient, and Asgard technology. Of course, Hemmeryn was well aware of this, but found himself quite impressed with Justin's extensive knowledge of it.

Justin had lunch with Hemmeryn that afternoon, as did Alex with Sheppard. Both found their spirits lifted by the new relationships they'd forged. Both officers were similarly impressed with the Russo each of them had conversed with, an impression they took with them into the strategic planning meeting that evening.

The _Gandalf _was poised to proceed beyond the galactic rim and to pick up speed en route to Pegasus. As such, Admiral Crumbs was due to beam down to the last Stargate in the Milky Way and gate back to Earth, but not before a final strategic meeting with Captain Schiller, Lt. Commander Hemmeryn, Colonel Sheppard, and Major Grimsby.

"All right, gentlemen," began Schiller. "Let's get down to business. Commander?"

"Engineering reports all system optimal," reported Hemmeryn. "All crew reports are excellent, with one exception. Ensign del Toro has contracted Wizard Flu. His powers will be out of commission for at least a week."

Schiller groaned. "Fine time to lose a bridge officer. We'll manage. Colonel Sheppard, how's our mortal contingent?"

"Ready and waiting, Captain," reported Sheppard. "It's all old-hat for my people."

"Excellent," approved Schiller. "Major Grimsby, what's the status of our grunts?"

"Specialist teams report ready, sir," reported Grimsby. "Infantry training is expected to conclude on schedule and without complication...with two exceptions, sir."

"Exceptions?" reacted Schiller. "Major, are you telling me we've got a couple of loose cannons?"

"In a manner of speaking, sir," answered Grimsby, beginning to squirm. "Staff Sergeant Kovalchik requested that he make this portion of his report personally. He's waiting outside."

"Well, send him in," ordered Schiller.

"Yes, sir," obeyed Grimsby, who opened the door and signaled for Kovalchik to come in, who did so promptly, standing at attention as he took his place before the captain.

"At ease, Staff Sergeant," ordered Schiller. "Grimsby tells me you've got a problem with a couple of your recruits."

"Yes, sir," confirmed Kovalchik. "It's the Russo siblings, sir."

"Russos?" interjected Crumbs. "What of them?"

"Permission to speak candidly, sir?" requested Kovalchik.

"Please," granted Crumbs, with a wave of his hand.

"Alex Russo is the most undisciplined, insubordinate excuse for a soldier I've ever had the displeasure of training," declared Kovalchik.

"Don't hold back, sarge," quipped Sheppard. "Tell us how you _really _feel."

"I will grant you that Alex Russo can be highly unorthodox and unconventional," granted Crumbs. "But her cunning, creativity, and resourcefulness are unmatched."

"And maybe five years from now, Special Ops could use someone like that," argued Kovalchik. "But unless she cures herself of this lone wolf mentality post-haste and starts acting like part of the team, I can't use her. And honestly, I don't see that happening."

"Grimsby?" prompted Schiller.

"With all due respect to the Admiral, sir," responded Grimsby. "I'm not going to force the Staff Sergeant to include someone who is, in his judgment, a liability."

"Admiral, I'm gonna have to back Grimsby on this one," added Schiller.

Crumbs sighed. "Very well. I don't claim to be infallible. If you feel Alex's inclusion would be harmful, I shall defer to your judgment. Now, what of Justin Russo?"

"Well, sir," continued Kovalchik, "He's a competent soldier."

"I'm sensing a 'but,'" predicted Schiller.

"Yes, sir," confirmed Kovalchik. "He spends most of his down-time in the ship's library."

"Really?" asked Schiller, getting some sense of where this was going.

"Yeah, apparently he can't get enough of those technical manuals," elaborated Kovalchik. "I'm starting to think he might serve the Force better in a post that's more technical."

"If I may, sir," interjected Hemmeryn.

"I had the opportunity to speak with Private Russo this morning," continued Hemmeryn. "The knowledge of ship's operations he's managed to acquire in just ten days is astounding. I've never seen such an amazing capacity for learning. No disrespect to Major Grimsby and his men, but I agree with the Staff Sergeant that Private Russo's talents are going to waste in the infantry."

"We need a replacement at Ensign del Toro's station," mused Schiller. "Do you think maybe we could try him out in ops?"

"I think he would excel at that post, sir," affirmed Hemmeryn.

"How about it, Grimsby?" posed Schiller. "He can finish his basic when he gets back to Earth. In the meantime, we could really use him on the bridge."

"I've no objection," approved Grimsby.

"Good," said Schiller. "Now that just leaves the matter of Alex Russo."

"Let me work with her," requested Sheppard.

"Colonel?" puzzled Crumbs.

"Russo's a good kid," continued Sheppard. "She's a little rough around the edges, but people like her have done some pretty amazing things under my command. She can still be an asset to this mission."

"Grimsby?" asked Schiller.

"I'm more than willing to relinquish her to Colonel Sheppard's command," agreed Grimsby.

"Alright," declared Schiller. "The Russos are taken care of. You're dismissed, Staff Sergeant."

"Yes, sir," obeyed Kovalchik, turning about on his heel and walking out of the room.

The officers spent the next hour or so reviewing the battle plans in light of the reports. They required very little adjustment, and Admiral Crumbs felt confident enough to leave the operation in Captain Schiller's hands. Since the sight was deemed secure, Schiller accompanied Crumbs and his security detail to the surface.

As they approached the Stargate, Schiller watched in wonderment as the archaic device responded to the marine's pushing of the stone panels on the adjacent device by spinning it's inner track and lighting up the various chevrons situated around the device. When seven of the nine chevrons had engaged, a shimmering vortex emerged from the circle, and settled back into what looked like an illuminated pond.

"I've seen it a hundred times, and it never ceases to amaze me," marveled Schiller.

"Indeed," agreed Crumbs.

"You really do believe in those Russo kids, don't you?" observed Schiller.

"Keep your eye on them," urged Crumbs. "They always come through just when you've counted them out."

"Wizard Force IDC confirmed," came the voice of Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman, USMC over one of the radios.

"Goodbye, Admiral," saluted Schiller.

"Farewell, Captain," replied Crumbs, returning his salute. "Good luck."

Crumbs went to join his Marine escort, who accompanied him through the puddle, which spirited them across the galaxy, back to Earth, and then dissipated unceremoniously.

"This will be interesting," Schiller muttered to himself as the Asgard beam brought him and his men back to the ship.

**End of Chapter Three**

_Sorry this took so long. Updates will be more frequent from now on. Stay tuned!_


	4. Changing Course

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Chapter Four: Changing Course

The morning following the departure of Admiral Crumbs, Justin arrived just as roll call began. The absence of his sister Alex concerned him. However, he had little time to ponder this, as his turn came for SSGT Kovalchik to examine him.

"With all due respect, sir," said Kovalchik, "What are you doing in my training bay?"

"Reporting for training as normal, Staff Sergeant," answered Justin. "And why are you calling me 'sir?'"

"Last I checked, that was the proper way for a Staff Sergeant to address an Ensign," explained Kovalchik.

"Ensign?" asked Justin, still not getting it.

"I respectfully advise you to get your ass up to the bridge before the captain misses you," admonished Kovalchik.

"Duly noted," Justin said, his voice perking up. "I guess I'll be on my way. Carry on, Staff Sergeant."

"Yes, sir," said Kovalchik with a smile as Justin left. No sooner had he left the training bay when he found himself face-to-face with Captain Schiller.

"You're late, Ensign," Schiller admonished playfully.

"Yes, sir," Justin replied timidly. "Sorry, sir."

"And you're out of uniform," added Schiller, who then flashed Justin out of his infantry coveralls and into the jacket and slacks of an officer.

"On my six, Ensign," ordered Schiller as he led Justin to the bridge.

"Yes, sir," Justin obeyed enthusiastically.

"Now," brief Schiller en route to the bridge. "You'll be taking over the operations manager's station. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Yes, sir," answered Justin. "I know my way around the control panel."

"Believe me, there's a lot more to it than that," warned Schiller. "But I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Now, you should be aware that this a provisional rank. That means you'll still be paid at enlisted grade, and you don't give orders unless they come from me or the first officer."

"Understood, sir," acknowledged Justin.

"Here we are," announced Schiller.

Justin stood in awe for a moment at the sight of the bridge, a large, semi-circular room, lined with large gothic-style windows, under which sat a number of control panels and holographic displays. In the center of the room, the captain's chair loomed large like a royal throne, with the first officer's chair immediately in front of and below it.

"Ensign, I believe you know Lt. Commander Hemmeryn," reintroduced Schiller.

"Good to have you with us, Russo," greeted Hemmeryn.

"Good to be here, sir," reciprocated Justin.

"This is your station," noted Hemmeryn, pointing him to a control panel in front of the room, immediately in front of the first officer's chair. "If I'm not too much mistaken, you're already acquainted with our tactical officer, Lieutenant Hatchback."

"Tutor!" exclaimed Justin, finding he did indeed recognize the petite blond elf seated at the console to his left. "Er, I mean, 'Lieutenant.'"

Tutor laughed. "Only when we're on duty. Otherwise, 'Tutor' is fine. It's good to see you, Justin."

"You too," said Justin.

"Might I suggest you two get reacquainted over dinner," interjected Hemmeryn.

"That sounds delightful," agreed Tutor.

"Yeah, awesome," agreed Justin.

"Good," approved Hemmeryn. "In the meantime, we have a ship to run. Ensign, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Otherwise, carry on."

"Yes, sir," Justin said with a grin a kilometer wide as he explored his console.

Meanwhile, Alex proceeded as ordered to deck five, the area that housed the mission's mortal contingent. She scanned the training bay as she walked from end to end, seeing various Air Force and Marine personnel performing various tasks, including lifting weights, running on the treadmill, and inspecting their weapons.

"Private Dollface, reporting for duty," Alex said unenthusiastically as she found Colonel Sheppard.

"Dollface?" asked Sheppard. "I thought your name was Russo."

"It is," explained Alex. "SSGT Kovalchik calls me that to tell me apart from my brother."

"Well, seeing as your brother's not here, I reckon that's no longer a problem," argued Colonel.

"Yes, sir," said Alex. "Russo it is, sir."

"Lighten up on the decorum, Russo," admonished Sheppard with a chuckle. "'Colonel' will do just fine."

"So I'm guessing you're my new drill instructor," ventured Alex.

"Drill instructor?" reacted Sheppard. "Nah, I think I'll leave that up to those Wizard Force heute-teutes once you get back to Earth. In the meantime, I aim to teach you something you can actually use out here."

"And just what would that be?" inquired Alex.

Sheppard laughed. "Teyla," he called out. An exotic, busty, muscular, dark-skinned woman with unique bronze-colored hair approached them.

"You wanted to see me, Colonel," she greeted.

"Teyla, I'd like you to meet our new recruit, Private Alex Russo," introduced Sheppard. "Russo, this is Teyla Emmagen, a friend of mine and a valued member of my expedition team."

"Pleased to meet you, Private," greeted Teyla. "You may call me Teyla."

"In that case, I guess you can call me Alex," reciprocated Alex. "Is that okay, Colonel?"

Sheppard smiled. "That's just fine."

"Shall we begin?" recommended Teyla.

For the rest of the day, Teyla trained Alex in her own proprietary form of hand-to-hand combat. Alex found Teyla just as demanding of an instructor as Kovalchik, and found herself lying on the mats more often than not. Nonetheless, she found the mysterious woman had a certain spirit and sense of humor about her, something she could really relate to. Even though Alex hardly knew Teyla, she wanted to make her proud, and with every fall, got back up again with increased resolve.

By the time dinner came around, Alex felt supremely exhausted. Nonetheless, she found herself in good enough spirits to share jokes and stories with the mortal contingent over chop.

"So a troll and an orc jump off a building," regaled Alex. "Who lands first?"

"I dunno, Russo," said Sheppard, still laughing from Alex's last joke. "Who lands first?"

"The troll," revealed Alex. "The orc had to stop and ask directions."

The crowd that had gathered around Alex burst out laughing once again.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," greeted fellow with a Canadian accent, who reminded Alex somewhat of her dad.

"Have a seat, Rodney," invited Sheppard. "You're missing out on all the fun."

"Who's the new girl?" asked Rodney, spotting Alex.

"This Alex Russo," introduced Sheppard. "She'll be training with us for the rest of this tour. Alex, this is Dr. Rodney McKay."

"Good to meet you," said Alex, shaking his hand.

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" Rodney replied.

"Rodney's been bringing the wizard specialists up to speed on Wraith technology," exposited Sheppard.

"How's that going?" inquired Alex.

"Ugh, it's a nightmare," complained Rodney. "I've never met a worse bunch of pig-headed know-it-alls in my life!"

"Gee, now who does that remind me of?" snarked Sheppard.

"Please," retorted Rodney. "I'm Sandra Dee compared to these assholes. They've been doing things their way for a thousand years, and don't see any reason to do anything different. Heavens forbid they should listen to somebody who's actually been shot at by these freaks!"

"I think you would be wise not to speak of Alex's people that way in her hearing," rebuked Teyla.

"No, it's okay," said Alex. "Dr. McKay's right about them. They're applying medieval methods to twenty-first century problems."

"Exactly," agreed Rodney. "What's ironic is, I could probably teach you more about combat magic than you'd get from any drill instructor."

"Really?" asked Alex, her curiosity piqued.

"Absolutely," boasted Rodney. "I've been reading all of their manuals, and working with them on all of their drills. If I had any magical ability of my own, I could run this op single-handedly."

"Modest as ever," commented Sheppard.

"I think he may be onto something," plotted Alex. "My dad doesn't have any powers, but he's gotten me this far just working through the materials. Maybe with Dr. McKay's help, I could learn something that would make them rethink these lame old policies and procedures."

"Or get yourself booted out of the Force," argued Sheppard.

"That's probably where I'm headed anyway," countered Alex. "If this doesn't work out, they take away my powers and send me off to live as mortal. Big deal! I won't be any worse off."

"Think about it, John," added Rodney. "These smug sons-of-bitches only brought us along because they can't do this without us. This is our chance to show them how indispensable we really are."

"Look," said Sheppard. "Even if I thought this was a good idea, and I'm not saying I do, there's a magic dampening field around this whole section. That's probably why they agreed to let Russo ride with us."

"A magic dampening field," corrected Rodney, "that uses a power conversion matrix that I invented. I can set up a separate magic generator using our own equipment. They won't suspect a thing."

Sheppard turned to Teyla for support, only to find her on the side of Rodney and Alex.

"You accepted Ronon and I onto your team because you valued our unique talents," argued Teyla. "It would behoove us to help Alex develop hers."

Sheppard groaned. "All right," he capitulated, throwing his hands in the air. "But be careful. And the minute something goes wrong, I'm pulling the plug."

"Understood," agreed Rodney.

"We've got target practice tomorrow," announced Sheppard. "After that, Russo starts her magic training with Rodney. The rest of us know what we need to do. I suggest we get some rack. We've got a long week ahead of us."

Meanwhile, Justin dined in the elegantly-appointed officers' mess. The senior officers (sans Sheppard) sat at the head table, and with the helmsman Ensign Jarvis preferring to dine with the other pilots, and the infantry lieutenants preferring to keep their own company, Justin found himself alone at a table. Thus, he found it a pleasant surprise when Tutor Hatchback approached him.

"May I join you?" asked the petite blond elf.

"Oh, of course Lieutenant," accepted Justin, getting up to offer her a chair.

"I told you, it's Tutor when we're off-duty," corrected Tutor with a giggle. Nonetheless, she accepted Justin's chivalrous gesture and sat in the chair he'd set for her.

"I have to admit," said Tutor. "The bridge of the _Gandalf _is the last place I expected to find you."

"Yeah, I was just a regular grunt until the first officer thought I might be better-suited to bridge duty," added Justin.

Tutor nodded. "He's always been willing to go to bat for someone he considers exceptionally-talented."

"Is that how you ended up here?" asked Justin.

"Yes, actually," answered Tutor. "Just after I finished tutoring your brother Max, a tribe of orcs began periodically attacking my village. Hemmeryn heard that I'd developed a non-lethal automated defense system, and thought I'd be perfect as a tactician aboard one of the Force's new spaceships. So here I am."

"I assume you know why were on this mission," said Justin.

Tutor nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I do."

"Does it bother you at all that we're hunting down one of your own kind?"

"I'm half-human, remember," reminded Tutor. "So this is just as much my fight as it is yours. Besides, I find it unconscionable that an elf would use his natural charm and charisma to build his own power base, then conspire with monsters when that didn't work. I want to see him sentenced to half an eon as a toe fungus more than anyone."

"I see," said Justin.

"So what about you?" asked Tutor. "Do you see yourself pursuing a career in the Force?"

"If most days are anything like today, then I just might," responded Justin. "Though I'm still worried about Alex."

"Oh yeah, your sister," said Tutor. "How is she?"

"She's okay, I guess," replied Justin. "She's with this tour, actually. But she has some doubts about her future as a wizard. She didn't show up for roll call this morning, so I hope she's not in serious trouble."

"You know," recalled Tutor, "I overheard some of Grimsby's men talking about a recruit getting some one-on-one with Colonel Sheppard, the mortal commander."

"Yep, that's her," surmised Justin. "I'd really like to see her do something useful that makes her happy."

"Maybe Sheppard will help her find that," surmised Tutor.

"I hope so," said Justin.

After dinner that evening, Justin retired to the library. Knowing that he'd have to go through Officer Candidate School in order to retain his rank and position after this tour, he resolved to learn as much as he possibly could. Much to his surprise, he found his sister there also, nose buried in a book.

"Alex?" said Justin, almost not believing this bookworm was his sister.

"Oh, hey Justin," greeted Alex. "Er, I mean, sir."

"It's okay, we're off duty," assured Justin. "What are you doing here?"

"What's it look like I'm doing?" retorted Alex. "I've got a year's worth of off-world strategic and tactical theory to learn in a week."

"Sounds like a challenge," noted Justin.

"It is," affirmed Alex. "But I'm gonna do it. Colonel Sheppard believes in me."

"He's a good guy," commented Justin.

"I'm glad you think so," replied Alex. "Everyone else around here seems to think the mortals should be riding in the bilge tanks."

"Like I said before," agreed Justin. "It amazes me that bigotry is still in issue in community as diverse as the wizard world."

"Didn't somebody say once that black and white got together and ganged up on green?" asked Alex.

Justin chuckled and nodded. "Terry Pratchett. How'd you know about him?"

"Believe it or not," explained Alex. "Sometimes I actually those books I steal from your room."

Justin couldn't help but smile at that sentiment.

"Speaking of reading," said Justin. "We've both got a lot of it to do, so I won't keep you any longer."

"Thanks," said Alex. "Goodnight, Justin."

"Goodnight, Alex."

A few minutes before lights out, Justin made his way up to his quarters. Under normal circumstances, a junior officer such as he would bunk at least two others. However, the haste with which this tour had been launched left _Gandalf _understaffed to only slightly above a skeleton crew. Thus, Justin had a cabin all to himself.

After stopping at the head to perform his almost girlishly-long bedtime hygiene ritual, Justin entered his quarters. Not bothering to turn the lights on, he hung up his uniform and climbed into his billet. To his utter shock, it already had an occupant.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, thinking he'd entered someone else's quarters by mistake.

"Shh," Justin's impromptu bunkmate whispered.

In the dim light of hyperspace shining through the window, he discerned that his intruder was female; a blond, near as he could tell. Perhaps out of longing for her, he allowed himself to think that Juliet had stowed away, and was paying him an unauthorized after-hours visit.

Swept up in the romance of that notion, Justin seized her by the sides of her face, and crashed his lips into hers. She accepted his kiss with enthusiasm, at first playing with his lips as he played with hers, then parting her lips to summon his tongue. As Justin explored her mouth and buried his fingers in her hair, reality returned to him, and he began to sense something wasn't right. His suspicions were confirmed when he surveyed the woman's right ear, which had a very definite point to it.

"Tutor!" exclaimed Justin as emphatically as he could without shouting and getting them both in trouble.

"Don't talk," she whispered. "Just show me what you've got."

With that, she attacked his lips once more.

**End of Chapter Four**

_A/N: It behooves me to mention at this point that I'm ignoring both the Chronicles of Moises arc and Wizards vs. Vampires. As such, Juliet is still alive. Stay tuned!_


	5. The Road to Armageddon

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Chapter Five: The Road to Armageddon

For a brief moment, Justin allowed himself to be caught up in his second kiss with Tutor. However, judging by the fact that she'd lain in wait for him in his quarters, he surmised that she wanted to do a good deal more than just kiss. He knew he had to stop this, then and there.

"Tutor," protested Justin. "Please...stop."

The blond elf did as requested, and Justin pushed a button on the control panel next to his bunk, bringing up the lights.

"Is something wrong?" asked a confounded Tutor.

"Yes, something's wrong!" confirmed a flustered Justin. "Tutor, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Besides the obvious?" asked Tutor.

Justin nodded.

Tutor took his hands in hers. "Justin, you and I had something. Something more than mere elf-infatuation."

"You yourself said we couldn't be together," recalled Justin.

"That was because of the Wizards Council's asinine rules of tutor conduct," argued Tutor. "Obviously, I'm not a tutor anymore. And there's nothing in the Force regs against two junior officers hooking up."

Justin sighed. "You're right," he admitted. "We did have something. And under different circumstances, I'd be happy to pick up where we left off."

"So what's the problem?" asked Tutor.

"Tutor, I'm with someone," revealed Justin. "And I love her more than anything in the world; anything in the universe. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted, but I could never betray her like that."

"Well, she can't be that special if she won't serve beside you in the Force," argued Tutor.

"It's not like that at all," defended Justin. "I'm sure she would if she could."

"Justin, don't tell me you're dating a mortal," deduced Tutor.

"Not exactly," obfuscated Justin. "Look, the point is, Juliet means everything to me, and as long as she's waiting for me back home, I won't even think about being with another woman."

Justin's last statement set off multiple alarms in Tutor's head.

"Juliet?" asked Tutor. "As in Juliet Van Heusen?"

"You know her?"

Tutor's expression changed from one of sorrow to one of anger.

"No, but I certainly know _of _her," clarified Tutor. "I assume you know who Abraham Van Helsing is."

"Are you kidding?" said Justin. "Only the greatest monster hunter who ever lived!"

"He's also my great-grandfather," revealed Tutor. "The Van Heusens all of their kind are soulless abominations who bring death, pain and misery to everyone who crosses their path. They look at people like you and me and see the meatloaf in the enlisted mess. They're no better than the Wraith, and Van Helsing has spent the better part of his career bringing creatures like them to justice. And now I find out you're _dating _one of them!"

"Juliet isn't like that," defended Justin. "She has a soul. She'd never intentionally harm anyone."

"That doesn't change what she is," argued Tutor.

"I thought you were different," lamented Justin, shaking his head. "I thought you, of all people, would have some perspective. But you're a racist just like the rest of them."

Tutor began to cry. "Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"

"Look, I'm sorry I was so harsh with you," apologized Justin. "But I can't just stand by and listen to Juliet being painted with the same brush as the rest of her kind. I think it's time the wizard world starts to reexamine its policies on a lot of things."

"Maybe you're right," granted Tutor. "But as of right now, Wizard Force's policy on vampires is to kill on sight. Until that changes, you've got a choice to make. It's her, or the Force."

"So are you gonna rat me out?" asked Justin.

"No," assured Tutor. "I trust you to make the right decision. I think you've got a bright future ahead of you in the Force, and once you realize that, I'm sure you'll find it within yourself to let her go."

"I'll make the right decision," promised Justin, not giving any clue as to what that meant.

"Good enough," said Tutor. "Well, since there won't be any romance tonight, I suggest we get some rack."

Justin nodded. "Good night, Lieutenant."

Tutor sighed as she left. "Good night, Ensign."

The next morning, Alex arrived at the training bay after breakfast, where Rodney McKay awaited her.

"Morning, Russo," greeted Rodney.

"What's good about it?" grumbled Alex.

"Oh, I think I have something that'll cheer you up," replied Rodney.

"Okay, I'll bite," said Alex, her curiosity piqued as Rodney led her over to the table where he'd placed a number of miscellaneous items.

"Now, then," continued Rodney. "As I mentioned before, I've been reading up on magic to get acquainted with the specialist teams and their tactics. It was there that I learned that wands and gauntlets are merely tools that wizards use to focus and direct their spells. As I suspected, the business part of said instruments are made from naquidah alloys. The purer the alloy, the more expensive the wand."

"Is there a point to this shop class lecture?" whined Alex.

"Yes, and it'll go a lot faster without the MST3K treatment," admonished Rodney, directing Alex's attention to the items in front of him.

"Anyway," continued Rodney. "Knowing a thing or two about naquidah-based technologies, I challenged myself to build a better wand. And _voila!"_

Rodney picked up with both hands an elegant platinum-colored wand with an ornate wooden hilt, and handed it to Alex.

"Holy crap," gasped Alex, examining the wand in awe.

Rodney grinned smugly. "Teyla designed the hilt, but the rest was my masterful craftsmanship."

"Not even Admiral Crumbs has a wand like this," marveled Alex.

"The next piece isn't quite as elegant," continued Rodney as he picked up a ragged old glove. "But still quite functional. I re-purposed one of my old welding gloves, and added some armor plating and small subspace antenna in the back of the palm."

Rodney took the wand from Alex and attached it to the glove. "Now, you just attach your wand like so and, _voila! _Now you have yourself a gauntlet."

"Rodney, you're a genius!" commended Alex.

"Heard it a hundred times," gloated Rodney. "Never gets old. Shall we get started?"

Alex nodded and followed Rodney into the firing range.

"Now, the first thing to remember," began Rodney, "is that there is no magic."

"Okay," puzzled Alex. "That's kind of a funny way to start a wizard lesson."

"I thought that might grab your attention," said Rodney. "That is to say, there is no magic, only science we don't understand yet."

"I'm not a science geek," noted Alex, "So you're gonna have to unpack that a bit for me."

"As you know, _Gandalf_ is one of three _Myrdinn_-class heavy cruisers," exposited Rodney. "Now the Reader's Digest version of his story, courtesy of my colleague Dr. Daniel Jackson, is that he was a member of a species we call the Ancients. They ascended, meaning they evolved beyond the need for physical bodies.

"Myrdinn, more commonly known as Merlin, was a renegade, who went against the Ancients' policy of non-interference to aid humanity in their fight against another group of ascended beings known as the Ori. These guys had a religion that worshiped them, and they had priests, which they called Priors, who were humans whose genes they'd messed around with to give them control over then-unknown properties of the universe, which to the eyes of an unsophisticated populace, seemed like divine powers.

"Now, we think one of the ways Merlin tried to combat them was to create his own version of the Priors. We believe these were the first wizards. Whether by mistake or by design, one of the powers he gave them was access to a parallel universe with a different set of physical laws, what you call the wizard world. However, since the Ori didn't seem to pose any immediate threat, your ancestors were probably more interested in dallying around in the wizard world."

Alex pondered all of this. So little was known of the ancient history of her people, and this version answered so many of the questions she never dared ask. It could've been an elaborate fabrication, but having already seen Rodney manipulate forces she'd always been taught were beyond the reach of mortals, she had little reason to doubt him.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" asked Alex.

"Most of the gods of ancient myth were members of a parasitic aliens species called the Goa'uld," continued Rodney. "The Stargate, the Ori, the Wraith...these were all incredible things that stupefied humanity and kept us in bondage for centuries. Once we learned that they all had reasonable, scientific explanations, we began to take control of our own destiny.

"Since I've been working with the Force, I've been forced to treat their culture and myths with kid-gloves. I'm not sure how, but I know you're smarter than that. It's in your nature to question authority and tradition. If I can get you to even begin to understand the true nature of magic, then you can master it. And with you fighting in our corner, we just might win this thing."

"That's awful lot to put on the shoulders of a sixteen-year-old girl," worried Alex.

"Hey, I was in my second year at Calgary when I was your age," encouraged Rodney. "Don't sell yourself short."

"All right," agreed Alex. "Let's get started."

In the few short days that Sheppard and McKay had to train Alex, she advanced remarkably in her knowledge of both magical and traditional combat. This became all the more apparent when Sheppard came to check on Rodney's progress with Alex. Much to Sheppard's surprise, Rodney requested the meeting at the gun range.

"All right, Rodney," said Sheppard. "You mind telling me why you wanted to meet here?"

"This is the gun range," replied Rodney. "Let's do some shooting."

"Fine," agreed Sheppard. "Tell Russo to get her ass up-range and we'll squeeze off a few rounds."

"Actually, Alex is the target," clarified Rodney.

"Very funny, Rodney," dismissed Sheppard.

"I'm serious!" insisted Rodney. "Go on, take the shot!"

"Forget it!" refused Sheppard. "I'm not using live ammo on anything that's breathing and not shooting back at me."

"Oh fine," grumbled Rodney, picking up the P90 submachine gun. "I'll do it!"

"Rodney, have you lost your mind?" yelled Sheppard, trying to restrain him.

"Would you just let me..." began Rodney as he struggled for control of the weapon.

"You've really crossed the line this time," growled Sheppard as he too struggled.

Amidst the scuffle, Rodney forgot that he'd already disengaged the safety mechanism, and his trigger finger slipped, causing a spray of bullets to scatter wildly about the range. As Rodney released the trigger, Sheppard had the presence of mind to reengage the safety. After that, both stood horrified as they looked down-range to see Alex Russo crouched in an armadillo position.

"Medic!" shouted Sheppard as he and Rodney ran down range to survey whatever carnage they'd wreaked upon the poor teenager. As they closed in on her, they found her to be crouched in the same position, but obviously still breathing. Also, while the practice dummies behind her had been shredded beyond recognition, they found no blood or body tissues amidst the debris. In fact, their admittedly-cursory preliminary investigation showed Alex to be completely unscathed.

"Russo, you okay?" asked Sheppard.

"That was really, _really _loud!" whimpered Alex. Having grown up in Manhattan, she'd heard plenty of gunshots in her life, but she'd never heard them this close sans ear-protection.

The medic took a few moments to examine Alex, then gave her a clean bill of health.

"Rodney, that is the most reckless, irresponsible thing you've ever done," scolded Sheppard. "And that's saying something coming from me."

"Perhaps," granted Rodney. "But either way, Alex has successfully demonstrated a level five ballistic deflection spell."

Sheppard's indignation immediately turned to wonderment.

"All right," acknowledged Sheppard. "What else can she do?"

Throughout the rest of the day, Alex demonstrated mastery of a number of different spells, including fashioning, loading with spent slugs, and firing a spectral submachine gun, disarming a naquidah explosive without touching it, and even things as simple as knocking people on their rear ends just by holding up her hand.

"Not bad," approved Sheppard. "Not bad at all."

"She can also dial a Stargate telekinetically," added Rodney. "But of course, we can't demo that."

"So you think they'll let me back on the squad?" asked Alex.

"Doubtful," informed Sheppard. "Forget about them. You're of much more use to me. As long as Grimsby agrees, and I don't see as why he wouldn't, you're on my team."

"Seriously?" asked Alex, still not quite believing it.

"Absolutely," affirmed Sheppard. "You're a quick study, Russo, and you know how to think on your feet. That's what gets you home alive out here."

"Thank you so much, Colonel," said Alex, so overwhelmed with gratitude as to actually say those seldom-uttered words.

"You can thank me when we're back on Earth with our asses still attached, laughing about this over a steak dinner," replied Sheppard.

Later that evening, Alex met with her brother in the library, which had become their customary meeting place.

"You know, I'm no expert," noted Alex, "but I think books are easier to read if you turn the pages."

"Yeah," agreed Justin, closing the book in frustration. "I've just been a little distracted."

"Still got your undies in a twist over that whole Tutor situation?" asked Alex.

Justin nodded. "I don't know why it bothers me so much. Why should I care what she thinks?"

"I dunno," ventured Alex. "Maybe because you actually like her?"

"That's ridiculous," denied Justin. "I'm totally over Tutor. Juliet is the only one for me."

"Maybe so," granted Alex. "But you can't stay with her and stay in the Force."

"As Tutor has repeatedly informed me, yes," confirmed Justin, an air of annoyance building in his voice.

"Well, you can deny being attracted to Tutor all you want," analyzed Alex. "But the fact is, everything about her that made you want her in the first place is still there. And she obviously still likes you, else she would've gone to the captain instead of trying to handle you herself."

Justin glared at Alex.

"That so didn't come out right!" chuckled Alex.

"Ya think?" admonished Justin.

"Anyway," continued Alex. "As long as you stay in the Force, you can marry Tutor with the blessing of the Wizards Council, and live happily ever after, whatever the hell that means."

"Are you actually suggesting I pursue something with her?" Justin asked incredulously.

Alex smacked him on the back of the head. "Try again, Socrates!"

"Oh, I get it," grasped Justin. "You're saying I'm thinking about Tutor because she's the safe, easy way."

"Now you're cooking with gas!" affirmed Alex.

"So what do you think I should do?" solicited Justin. "Cripes, I can't believe I'm asking you for advice."

"It's not advice so much as insight," clarified Alex.

"I can live with that," agreed Justin.

"Anyway," concluded Alex. "I think you of all people would know that the easy thing, more often than not, isn't the right thing."

"You're right," acknowledged Justin. "Juliet and I belong together. If serving in the Force doesn't jibe with that, the Force needs to go."

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" patronized Alex.

"Just one problem," argued Justin. "I'd be giving up my dream."

"Your dream?" countered Alex. "Justin, just three weeks ago you were complaining as loudly as I was about what a joke Wizard Force was!"

"It's different once you've been behind the ops panel of a _Mydrinn_-class heavy cruiser," explained Justin. "Alex, I don't know if I can go back."

"So don't," suggested Alex. "Talk to Colonel Sheppard. If flying a starship is your thing, and we both know it is, I'm sure he can hook you up."

Justin nodded in agreement, then pondered the last few minutes' conversation, before arriving at an epiphany.

"That's what you're thinking of doing, isn't it?" guessed Justin.

Alex nodded. "Colonel Sheppard and Rodney and Teyla and the rest of them aren't like anybody else I've ever met. The universe has thrown them together because they don't fit anywhere else. For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm a part of something bigger than myself. Good grief, I never thought I'd actually _like _that feeling!"

"But you're not sure," observed Justin.

"That I'm not," admitted Alex. "I've also come further as wizard in the last three days than I have in my entire life. I don't know if I'd still have a place among them if I gave that up. Damned if I do; damned if I don't."

"Well, if you could out my dilemma, I'm sure you'll work this out," assured Justin.

"I hope so," said Alex.

Alex started along her normal route back to her bunk, which she now kept among the mortal contingent. As she made her way, she found her path impeded by Staff Sergeant Kovalchik, leading his platoon on an evening jog. Not wanting to deal with him, she quickly plotted a new route.

This took her through a part of the ship she hadn't seen since her initial tour, which included the wizard specialists' quarters, and the laboratories. Not expecting anyone to be working this late, she found herself startled by a pair of muffled voices emanating from a nearby hatch. As it so often did, her curiosity got the better of her, and Alex put her ear to the door. When she couldn't quite track the conversation, she cast a spell.

"What was that? I didn't hear. Bring the whispers to my ear," she chanted in a muffled voice, after which the conversation came through loud and clear.

"Maybe a little more eye-of-newt," suggested one of them.

"That's your solution to everything, Sadiq," admonished his partner.

"Well, we've tried everything else," argued Sadiq. "If we don't have this ready by crunch time, we're all dead meat."

Alex listened to the rest of the conversation, beyond shocked at what she heard. As soon as she'd heard enough, she ran at full speed toward the mortals' section, and barged into Sheppard's quarters.

"Colonel Sheppard!" she yelled.

"Dammit, Russo!" Sheppard cursed groggily, squinting in the bright light coming through his hatch. "This had better be important."

Without another word, Alex produced her wand, which began playing back a recording of that conversation. After taking stock of what he heard, Sheppard immediately donned his coveralls and stormed toward officers' country. As he made his way toward the senior officers' quarters, he heard the captain's voice trickling out of the briefing room.

_Good_, thought Sheppard to himself. _I won't have to wake the bastard up._

"So as you can see, sir," said Major Grimsby as he finished his presentation. "I belief this new deployment pattern will increase our odds of success by twenty percent."

"Sounds good to me," approved Schiller. "What about Sheppard's people?"

"Heaven only knows what he's up to," grumbled Grimsby. "He never tells me anything."

Just then, Sheppard stormed through the door.

"Ah, speak of the devil," greeted Grimsby.

Sheppard ignored him and walked straight toward the Captain.

"You lying, necromancing son of a bitch!" insulted Sheppard as he threw a punch.

**End of Chapter Five**

_Sorry for the delay. I'd really like to wrap this up, so updates will be more frequent. Stay tuned!_


	6. Looking Across the River Styx

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Chapter Six: Looking Across the River Styx

"You lying, necromancing son of a bitch!" insulted Colonel Sheppard as he took a swing at Captain Schiller. Before he could connect, however, Schiller pinned him against the far wall with some sort of translucent, iridescent energy field.

"Now that you've attempted the ludicrously ill-advised move of trying to punch out a level five wizard," Schiller said calmly as he approached Sheppard. "Maybe you'd like to try saying what's on your mind and talking things out like civilized men."

"Uh huh," grunted Sheppard, the movement of his jaw restricted so as to prohibit saying anything more coherent.

"Good," approved Schiller, who then released the energy field. Sheppard dropped to his feet and caught his breath.

"You lied to me," accused Sheppard. "And you made me lie to all those kids!"

"Would you mind telling me what the hell you're talking about?" inquired Sheppard.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about," continued Sheppard. "Valenczak found an antidote to the wizard protein, The Wraith can feed on wizards now."

"He did, yes," admitted Schiller.

"And just when were you planning on telling the recruits?" demanded Sheppard. "Hell, when were you planning on telling _me?_"

"We were hoping we wouldn't have to," explained Schiller. "The boys from R&D assured us they could come up with a counter-agent in time for the operation."

"Yeah," said Sheppard. "Except it's bullshit. They're not even close."

"No," confirmed Schiller. "They're not."

"So why don't we just turn this dinghy around and regroup?" demanded Sheppard.

"It's complicated," replied Schiller.

"Enlighten me," said Sheppard, crossing his arms.

"All right," agreed Schiller. "Even though we've augmented it with external power sources, fundamentally, a wizard's powers draw upon his life-force energy. When you're dealing with vitavores like the Wraith, this becomes a problem, because the process also works in reverse."

"So what you're telling me," surmised Sheppard, "Is that the Wraith can absorb a wizard's mag ical powers?"

"Precisely," confirmed Schiller. "We think Merlin knew this, and created the protein marker to prevent it. But of course, it was only a matter of time before someone found a way to counteract it."

"That sounds like all the more reason to call this whole pooch-screw off," argued Sheppard.

"All things being equal, I'd agree," granted Schiller. "But the problem's a lot bigger than that. We're fairly certain Valenczak's next move is a full-scale invasion of the wizard world. With these new modifications, it won't be a war; it'll be a slaughter."

"And once the Wraith have control of the wizard world, they'll be in a position to steamroll the mortal universe," deduced Sheppard.

"Precisely," confirmed Schiller. "If we don't strike now, we may never get another chance."

"So that's why we launched packing a gaggle of recruits with less-than-minimal training," surmised Sheppard.

Schiller nodded. "For many years, the Force has been regarded as a joke, a relic of the medieval era. Loathe as the Wizards Council was to admit it, we didn't have the manpower to occupy Monaco, let alone jack a hive ship. We were hoping if at all possible to keep the recruits out of harm's way."

"So what, the recruits were some kind of publicity stunt?" asked Sheppard.

"No matter how hard we tried to keep a lid on this, it was going to get out," explained Schiller. "The council wanted to give the impression that they were taking care of their own business. In reality, we were counting on your people to do most of the work. After all, this as much your fight as it is ours."

Sheppard growled. As devious as Captain Schiller had been, Sheppard had to admit he had raised a number of valid points.

"All things being equal, I would agree," argued Sheppard. "Fact is, these are the Wraith we're talking about here. They have no mercy, and no respect for chivalry, or the rules of engagement under anyone's definition. There's a good chance we're walking straight into a meat-grinder here, and if that's the case, they won't give a rat's ass that these kids aren't shooting at them. If we're the main course, they'll consider them dessert."

"I see your point," conceded Schiller. "So what would you suggest I do about it?"

"Give them a choice," urged Sheppard. "Let them know the risks. One way or another, people are gonna die on this mission. If they know what they're getting into, at least their deaths will mean something."

"Fine," capitulated Schiller. "We'll do it your way."

"Captain, with all due respect..." interjected Grimsby, who'd kept his mouth shut until this point.

"Your objection is noted, Major," interrupted Schiller. "Now you and Sheppard had better get working on some contingency plans. I've got a feeling we're gonna have to make this work with a lot less manpower."

The next morning, the inhabitants of Alex's cabin awoke to the sound of Colonel Sheppard knocking at their hatch.

"On your feet, ladies," ordered Sheppard. "We've got a week's worth of work to do, and only forty-eight hours to do it."

Shortly after breakfast, the _Gandalf _arrived at the rendezvous point in an uninhabited system, where three _Daedalus-_class cruisers awaited them.

"Open a channel, Mr. Russo," ordered Schiller.

"Aye, sir," obeyed Justin Russo. "Channel open."

"This Captain Warren Schiller of the Wizard Force ship _Gandalf_," identified Schiller. "As per our agreement, I'm assuming command of this mission. All ships, report."

"This is Colonel Stephen Caldwell of the US Air Force ship _Daedalus,_" reported one of them. "Our vessel is fully operational; all personnel report ready."

"This is Colonel Abe Ellis of the US ship _Apollo_," reported another, delivering a similar report.

"This is Colonel Tao Ming of the People's Republic ship _Sun Tzu," _reported a third commander. "We stand ready."

"Very good," approved Schiller. "Before we proceed, I must inform all of you that the mission has changed. Colonel Sheppard will explain."

Justin transferred the comm to the training bay, where Sheppard stood before his assembled troops.

"Thank you, Captain," began Sheppard. "As Captain Schiller said, the mission has changed. Until now, we've been laboring under the assumption that the wizard specialists assisting us on this op were immune to Wraith attack. We've since come to understand that not only are they vulnerable to attack, but also that the Wraith could conceivably gain a decisive advantage by feeding upon them.

"Rest assured, this operation will continue. However, in light of these developments, the odds of success have shifted such that this can now be classified as a suicide mission. The odds will be even slimmer with diminished manpower. That said, we won't compel you to participate in an op whose risks you were never properly made aware of.

"The _Daedalus _will ferry anyone who wants opt out, wizard or mortal, to the nearest stargate. From there, you'll be escorted to the Atlantis base, and from there back to Earth. Should you choose to exercise this option, you'll be dismissed with our thanks, and your service record will not be affected. That is all."

"You'll be receiving further orders from your immediate superiors after I've conferred with the other ship commanders," added Schiller. "Schiller, out."

"You're dismissed," said Sheppard to his troops as soon as the comm link terminated. As they began to scatter, Sheppard sought out Alex Russo.

"Go to your bunk and pack your gear, Russo," ordered Sheppard.

"I'm not leaving," protested Alex.

"It's not a request, Private," insisted Sheppard. "You're going home."

"So that's it?" reacted Alex. "After all the progress I've made, you're just gonna wash me out?"

"It's not like that," defended Sheppard.

"This is so unfair!" grumbled Alex.

"Unfair?" responded Sheppard. "You wanna know what's unfair? The Wizards Council feeding a bunch of innocent, ignorant kids to the Wraith to maintain the farce that their military is actually worth two craps. If they want to stay, there's nothing I can do about it. But since you're under my command, I won't stand for it."

"Is that what you think I am?" pouted Alex. "An ignorant kid?"

"No!" assured Sheppard, taking her by the shoulders. "Hell no! Russo, you're one of the most extraordinary young women I've ever met. You've got enormous potential, and I want you to live to realize it."

"So after all we've been through," said Alex, starting to cry. "All you see in me is 'potential.'"

"Russo..." Sheppard began to believe.

"Forget about it!" she dismissed. "You gave me an order; I'm following it. I'm sorry I let myself think you actually believed in me."

With that, Alex stormed off toward her cabin. When she arrived, she began tossing things haphazardly into her duffel bag, sobbing profusely as she did so.

That afternoon Alex waited in line with all of the other wizards would wouldn't be staying for the operational phase. The queue moved slowly as they transferred to the _Daedalus _in small groups via the ring transporter. With three or four groups ahead of her, Alex felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey," greeted Justin.

"Hey," replied Alex, surprised to see her brother.

"I see you're leaving," Justin noted redundantly.

"It wasn't my choice," lamented Alex.

"I know," said Justin. "I'm glad just the same."

"So what's the damage?" asked Alex.

"We're losing roughly a third of the wizard contingent," reported Justin. "It'll be sparse, but we'll manage. Funny thing is, not a one of the mortals is leaving."

"I should think not," said Alex. "Ragnarök is just another day at the office for these guys."

Justin nodded. "I'm glad we have them watching our back."

"Wait a minute, who's this 'we?'" Alex asked worriedly, just now noticing Justin was still in his duty uniform. "Justin, where's your gear?"

"I'm not going," revealed Justin.

"What?" reacted Alex.

"I'm going to see this through," added Justin. "I came to say goodbye."

"Justin, you have you to come with me," pleaded Alex. "You'll die if you stay."

"Quite likely, yes," noted Justin.

"So this might be the last time we ever see each other," observed Alex.

Justin swallowed hard. "I'm afraid that's the only way to look at it."

"Oh gosh!" cried Alex, overcome with sorrow as she threw her arms around her brother.

"There, there," consoled Justin as he held his sister close. "It's gonna be okay."

"No, it's not," Alex sobbed into his uniform. "I'm losing you forever."

"You'll never lose me," assured Justin. "I'll always be a part of you. And what I'm doing here will help give you the chance to become the person I always knew you would be. I've always been proud of you."

Alex's tears subsided into a dull sob as she broke the embrace and looked into Justin's eyes.

"I've always been proud of you, too," reciprocated Alex. "I'm sorry I never told you."

"Better late than never," quipped Justin, to which Alex couldn't help but laugh.

"Care to join us, Dollface?" admonished Staff Sergeant Kovalchik, who oversaw the evacuation.

"I love you," declared Alex, embracing her brother one last time.

"I love you, too," reciprocated Justin.

"Russo!" ordered Kovalchik. "On the pad, PDQ!"

"Yes, sir," Alex grumbled, reluctantly taking her place amidst the group inside the large circle on the deck.

"Stand clear," ordered Kovalchik. "Transport in progress."

The trap doors that comprised the ring retracted, replaced by a bright light and a loud electrical hum. Five large metal ring emerged from the floor and hovered in place. In the split second before transport commenced, Alex knew she couldn't leave Justin behind. If he was to meet his doom, she would meet it with him at his side. Just before the rings dematerialized and transmitted the group, Alex ducked and rolled under the bottom ring, discreetly slipping out of sight before either Kovalchik or Justin noticed her.

Justin assumed his post the next day just as the _Daedalus _returned to the rendezvous point. Believing his sister to be among those now en route back to Earth, he tried to take some solace from his supposition that she was now safe.

"Having second thoughts, son?" asked Lt. Commander Hemmeryn, noticing Justin's melancholia.

"Not about me, so much," answered Justin. "I just hope Alex will be okay without me to look after her."

"She'll be fine," assured Hemmeryn. "Captain tells me your folks are good people."

"Yeah, they really are," agreed Justin, just now realizing that the courage to follow through with the mission had been instilled in him by his parents.

"Besides," added Hemmeryn. "We just might come out of this in one piece."

"Glad somebody thinks so," interjected Captain Schiller.

"Captain on deck," Hemmeryn announced belatedly, summoning the bridge crew to their feet.

"As you were," ordered Schiller. "What's the word from the fleet?"

"All ships report ready for operational phase," reported Russo.

"Commander?" asked Schiller.

"All department heads and units report ready, sir," reported Hemmeryn.

"Tactical?"

"Weapons systems are fully operational, sir," reported Tutor.

"Helm?"

"Course laid in, sir," reported the helmsman. "Awaiting your order."

"Open a channel to the fleet," ordered Schiller.

"Channel open, sir," obeyed Justin.

"All ships, this is _Gandalf_," began Schiller. "_Sun Tzu _will take point. _Gandalf _will follow, then _Daedalus_. _Apollo _will bring up the rear. Launch will commence as soon as this communication terminates. Schiller, out."

"_Sun Tzu _has entered hyperspace, Captain," reported Justin.

"Very good," replied Schiller, the fear in his voice only vaguely audible. "Helm...take us to Hades."

**End of Chapter Six**

_The battle you've been waiting for is up next! Stay tuned!_


	7. Storming the Gates of Hell

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Chapter Seven: Storming the Gates of Hell

"Time to arrival, Mr. Jarvis," requested Captain Schiller.

"Five minutes, sir," reported Ensign Jarvis, the helmsman.

"Mr. Russo," ordered Schiller. "Sound General Quarters."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Justin, activating the PA system. "All hands, General Quarters. Repeat: All hands, General Quarters. We will dropping out of hyperspace in five minutes. All hands, Battle Stations. Repeat: All hands, Battle Stations."

"Are you ready for this?" Tutor asked somberly as the alarms sounded.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Justin replied honestly. At that moment, he began to wonder the captain and first officer's confidence hadn't been misplaced, and if perhaps their chances of survival would've been better with Ensign Del Toro at his post, rather than headed back to Earth to properly recover from his illness.

"There's just so much riding on this," elaborated Justin. "The fate of two universes. I don't know if I can handle that kind of responsibility."

"Then don't fight for them," counseled Tutor. "Fight for the ones you love...all of them."

With that, Justin cast all self-doubt from his mind, and assumed an air of determination. He resolved that he would give everything up to and including his life to ensure the future and well-being of his mother, his father, his sister and brother, and especially his Juliet. Yea, even Harper.

The _Gandalf _dropped out of hyperspace, staying exposed just long enough to take some readings, before dropping into the upper atmosphere of a gas giant.

"Status, Mr. Russo," requested Schiller.

"Preliminary readings indicate the presence of at least two hives ships, and at least a dozen small vessels," reported Justin. "Looks like they're expecting company."

"I figured as much," acknowledged Schiller. "No sense waiting around here for them to find us. Helm, set a course for the nearest hive ship."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Jarvis.

"Leaving the upper atmosphere," reported Justin. "We'll be visible to Wraith sensors in two minutes."

"Lieutenant Hatchback," ordered Schiller. "Active cloaking device."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Tutor. "Cloak is operational and active."

Having hidden in some of the darker recesses of the ship, Alex slowly made her way to the mortals' section, taking advantage of whatever cover could be had amidst the commotion of battle preparation. She was just about to make a dash across a corridor when she found herself pinned telekinetically to the the bulkhead.

Staff Sergeant Kovalchik shook his head as he came into view.

"You just will not follow orders, will you Dollface?" scolded Kovalchik.

"I follow orders," retorted Alex. "When they're not stupid."

"You're damn lucky I have scruples against striking a lady," growled Kovalchik. "Else you'd be in sickbay having your jaw wired shut for that remark."

The journey to inner solar system took about two hours at sub-light speeds. As they got closer, Justin's readings began to paint a far grimmer picture than originally thought.

"Captain, I think we have a problem," reported Justin.

"What is it, Ensign?" asked Schiller.

"I'm reading five hive ships," elaborated Justin. "Two orbiting the fourth planet, and three orbiting the third. Readings would also suggest activity on the planets' surfaces."

"Damn," cursed Schiller. "That means we're outnumbered at least twenty-to-one."

"Shall I set course to the fallback point?" asked Jarvis.

Schiller turned to face him. "You hold your course, Mister, or so help me, I will strap you to a missile and launch you at one of those hive ships!"

Jarvis swallowed hard. "Aye, sir. Maintaining course and speed."

"Kovalchik to Bridge," came a call over the comm system.

"We're a little busy here, Staff Sergeant," answered Justin.

"Yes, sir," acknowledged Kovalchik. "We have a stowaway. It's Private Russo."

_Alex! _Justin thought to himself. _Damn her! why does she have to be so stubborn and impulsive?_

"Send her up to the bridge," ordered Schiller.

"Beg your pardon, sir?" puzzled Kovalchik.

"We can't spare the manpower to hold her in the brig," explained Schiller.

"Aye, sir," obeyed Kovalchik. "Sending her up now. Kovalchik, out."

A few minutes later, one of Kovalchik's troops manhandled Alex onto the bridge.

"Thank you, Corporal," acknowledged Schiller. "You're dismissed."

"Aye, sir," obeyed the Corporal, pivoting on his heel and returning to his battle preparations.

"Alex, what are you doing here?" outburst Justin.

"I couldn't just leave you here to get killed," argued Alex.

"So instead you're gonna get us both killed?" countered Justin.

"That's enough out of both of you!" interrupted Schiller.

"Sorry, sir," Justin and Alex apologized in unison.

"Private, as long as you're here, you can make yourself useful," commanded Schiller. "Take station five, give your brother a hand."

"Yes, sir," said Alex.

"Okay, what do I do?" pondered Alex, bewildered by the wide array of controls and readouts in front of her.

"Here," said Justin, tapping a few controls to bring up a specific readout. "The Wraith have a jamming field that prevents us from beaming into our ship. We need to find a weak spot. Anywhere you see a blue or purple spot, tap twice to magnify and enhance. If you see a red or orange spot within fifty meters, drag the box at the bottom left corner of the screen onto them to feed them into the database."

"Okay," said Alex, still unsure. "I think I can do that."

"Good," approved Justin. "Believe me, just having an extra set of eyes can make all the difference."

Justin, Alex, and Tutor continued to work diligently in the dead quiet of the bridge for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, a potential solution presented itself.

"Justin!" shouted Alex, thinking she'd done something to cause the computer to malfunction. "My screen just went all tooty-fruity!"

"That's not a malfunction; that's the motherlode!" exclaimed Justin. "Captain, we've found a point of intersection in the dampening field geometries of the three hives. If we can send a feedback pulse from that location, we can disrupt the fields long enough to get our people in."

"Good work, Russos," commended Schiller. "Helm, set a course for those coordinates."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Jarvis.

"It's time to fight magic with magic," declared Schiller. "Russo, put me on the horn."

"All hands, this the captain," announced Schiller. "This is the moment we've all been waiting for. In just under twenty minutes, we'll be in position to transport aboard the Wraith hive ships. In order to make that happen, we'll need to cast a disruption spell. All wizards stand by to assist."

Schiller turned his attention to Tutor. "Lieutenant, deploy the primary wand."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Tutor. "Primary wand is deployed."

As soon as she said this, a large spire the size of the Eiffel Tower protruded from the stem of the ship, pulsating with energy. Throughout the ship, devices similar to the hilt of a wand appeared out of bulkheads and counter-tops throughout the ship.

"Russo, can you raise the fleet?" asked Schiller.

"Negative, sir," reported Justin. "All communications channels are jammed."

"All right," conceded Schiller. "We'll just have to run visible and hope they get the message. Patch me through to the CAG."

"Lieutenant Grendor reporting, sir," answered the fighter group commander.

"Prepare to deploy screamers on my command," ordered Schiller.

"Aye, sir," acknowledged Grendor.

"Prepare to launch, everybody in your pods, move move move!" shouted Grendor, ordering his men into a corridor lined on both sides with glass-doored pods that resembled coffins standing on end. As each pilot settled into his pod, the bottom of the three lights above it turned green.

"Screamers ready for launch," reported Grendor.

"Disengage cloak," ordered Schiller. "Shields at full."

"Looks like that got their attention," reported Tutor. "Hive ships are launching darts."

"Launch screamers," ordered Schiller.

Tutor sent the command, which caused the lights above the pods to turn amber, and auras of the pilots to drop out of their bodies and into ethereal fighter craft, which slipped through the decks of the ship and out of the keel.

It took very little time for the screams to engage the darts. Normally, no mortal spacecraft would be a match for the spectral fighters, since they weren't composed of either matter or energy as mortal science understood it. However, it soon became apparent that the Wraith darts had been equipped with some manner of magic technology, as several of the screamers too minor damage almost immediately.

"We're taking fire," reported Tutor. "Shields are holding."

"Steady as she goes, Ensign," said Schiller through gritted teeth.

"I'm detecting the _Daedalus _on approach," reported Justin. "Looks like they got the message."

"We're in position, sir," reported Jarvis.

"Attention all wizards," announced Schiller. "Magic stations!"

Schiller took hold of the handles protruding from his chair, and felt the presence of the rest of the wizard contingent as they took hold.

"Your powers with mine," chanted Schiller. "Our forces combine...as in the sand we draw the line."

With that, the wizards throughout the ship took on a blinding glow, which extended outward through the primary wand. Schiller began to chant spells in the language of the Ancients, and energy surges flowed into the three hives.

"The dampening field is weakening," reported Justin. "I have a transport solution."

"Schiller to Grimsby," called Schiller, still gripping the handles. "Prepare to deploy all infantry units."

"All of them, sir?" asked Grimsby.

"We might not get another chance."

"Aye, sir," acknowledged Grimsby.

"Alright people!" said Colonel Sheppard to his troops. "Are you ready to bust some heads?"

"Yes, sir!" they shouted in unison.

"Mortal contingent reports ready," Sheppard reported to the bridge.

"Russo," commanded Schiller. "Deploy infantry units."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Justin. "Activating Asgard beam."

A bright white glow and a thump-foom sound could be heard echoing throughout the ship as hundreds of troops beamed off of the _Gandalf _and onto the battlefield.

"Get us out of here, Ensign!" ordered Schiller.

"Aye, sir," obeyed Jarvis. "Falling back to primary position."

"Enemy is pursuing, sir," reported Tutor. Just then, a shock resonated throughout the ship. "Direct hit. Shields at eighty percent." Another shock came shortly thereafter. "Sixty-seven percent."

The screamers did their absolute best to both distract and attack the pursuing Wraith ships. Unfortunately, they could only take so many hits. One by one, the yellow lights above the pilots' pods blinked before turning red, indicating that their occupants had been terminated.

"Screamers have sustained heavy casualties," reported Tutor. "At this rate, they'll be eliminated before we're clear."

"Russo, can we cloak?" asked Schiller.

"Negative, sir," reported Justin. "Our power reserves took a major hit from that spell. It'll be at least another twenty minutes before we're at full power."

"Recall the fighters as soon as we can re-cloak," ordered Schiller. "Jarvis, do you think you can fly a screamer?"

"I...guess so...sir," Jarvis replied timidly.

"Can you or can't you?" prodded Schiller.

"I can, sir," said Jarvis.

"Good," said Schiller. "Russo, take over the helm. Jarvis, get down there and give Grendor a hand."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Jarvis. "Transferring helm control to ops station."

With that, Jarvis took over toward the pod bay.

"Looks like you've got your hands full, Ensign," observed Schiller.

"Wouldn't be a battle if I didn't, sir," replied Justin.

Meanwhile, aboard the hive ship, Sheppard and his troops pressed slowly forward, attacking hordes of Wraith in order to get the wizard specialists to their destinations. It proved extremely slow going, as the hideous pale creatures proved extremely resistant, some of them still standing after having an entire magazine of ammo emptied into them.

"What's going on here?" asked satyr who accompanied Sheppard and Teyla.

"Just keep your head down and be quite," whispered Sheppard through gritted teeth.

A band of three warriors, characterized by their dense musculature and hideous squiggly masks bore down on them, prompting Teyla and Sheppard to expend a good deal of ammunition on them. They proceeded onward to a point where they could spy into a nexus of corridors. What they saw horrified them.

They saw the remnants of a wizard squad combined with the remnants of a mortal squad, meeting their demise at the hands of just three Wraith. Shockingly, they merely stunned the mortals, casting them aside for later removal. Once they'd dispatched the mortals, they attacked the wizards, feeding upon them and draining their energy much more quickly and efficiently than they'd ever seen.

Having their powers enhanced, the Wraith made Teyla and Sheppard's position, and stunned them before they could react.

"Cloaking device is operational," reported Justin.

"Hatchback, recall the fighters!" ordered Schiller.

Tutor laid down what cover fire she could as the screamers returned to the ship.

"All screamers accounted for, sir," reported Tutor.

"Activate cloaking device," commanded Schiller. "Transfer any available power to the thrusters and proceed to fall-back point."

"Aye, sir," said Justin. "Cloak is active, proceeding full ahead."

"Bogeys have broken off pursuit," added Tutor.

"Put me through to the fighter bay," ordered Schiller. "Grendor, report."

"This is Ensign Lahiri," replied a young man with a thick Indian accent. "Lieutenant Grendor is dead, sir."

"What about Ensign Jarvis?" asked Schiller.

"Dead, sir," repeated Lahiri.

Schiller paused for a moment before asking the dreaded question.

"How many of you are left?" he asked.

"Five, sir," answered Lahiri, trembling in his voice.

"Five," Schiller said somberly. "Out of forty-two."

"Yes, sir," confirmed Lahiri.

"Thank you. Ensign," said Schiller. "You're relieved until further notice."

"Aye, sir," replied Lahiri. "Lahiri, out."

Shortly thereafter, the _Gandalf _returned to the upper atmosphere on the side of the gas giant opposite the Wraith. Justin and Alex remained at their posts for several hours, watching their monitors for anything remotely interesting.

"Cripes, this is so _boring!"_ whined Alex.

"Military ops have often been described as hours of interminable boredom, punctuated by moments of stark terror," volunteered Schiller. "Quite aptly, I think."

Just then, a blip appeared on Alex's screen.

"I should learn to keep my mouth shut," said Alex. "I've got a blip on the scope."

"Hostiles?" asked Schiller.

"I don't think so, sir," reported Justin. "Initial scans suggest...confirmed, sir. It's the _Daedalus_."

"Hail them," commanded Schiller.

"They're responding, sir," reported Justin.

"On speakers."

"_Gandalf_, this is Colonel Caldwell of the _Daedalus_," responded the ship's commander, barely audible through all of the static.

"Good to hear from you, Colonel," beamed Schiller. "What's your status?"

"Not great, Captain," replied Caldwell. "We've taken heavy damage, and sustained heavy casualties."

"Same here, unfortunately," lamented Schiller. "I suggest we compare notes and see what we can piece together from what we have left."

"Agreed," said Caldwell. "We'll be expecting you. _Daedelus_, out."

"Patch me through to Major Grimsby," ordered Schiller.

"Grimsby here," answered the Major.

"We're headed over to the _Daedalus _to discuss our options," announced Schiller. "Meet me at the ring platform."

"Aye, sir," acknowledged Grimsby.

"Hemmeryn, you have the conn," declared Schiller. "Private, you're with me."

With that, Alex followed on Schiller's heels as he exited the bridge.

"Can I ask you a question, Captain?" inquired Alex en route to the ring transporter.

"What is it, Private?" acknowledged Schiller.

"First, you let me work with Colonel Sheppard instead of washing me out of the Force," observed Alex. "And even though I disobeyed his orders and stowed away aboard your ship, you're still treating me like part of the team."

"What's your point?" asked Schiller.

"Captain, why are you sticking your neck out for me like this?" asked Alex.

Schiller stopped for a moment and turned to face Alex.

"When you and your brother signed on, I made a promise to your parents to look after you," explained Schiller. "There's not much left of my honor at this point, but what little I have binds me to that promise."

"Thank you, sir," said Alex.

"Don't thank me yet," cautioned Schiller. "We've got a lot of work to do if we want to get out of this alive."

A few minutes later, Schiller and Alex arrived at the ring transporter, where Grimsby awaited them.

"Sir, with all due respect, what's she doing here?" demanded Grimsby.

"Call it a hunch, Major," answered Schiller.

"A hunch, sir?" Grimsby asked incredulously.

"Not mine," clarified Schiller. "The Admiral's."

With that, the rings rose from the deck, and transported the three of them over to the _Daedalus_.

**End of Chapter Seven**

_Silly me to think I could portray the whole battle in a single chapter. Stay tuned!_


	8. Lighting a Candle Against the Darkness

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Chapter Eight: Lighting a Candle Against the Darkness

Two marines met the three wizards at the ring pad aboard the _Daedalus _and escorted them to the briefing room. En route, they observed that the mortals' flagship had sustained much more severe damage than the _Gandalf _had. Loose wires and shards of metal hung from the bulkheads and ceilings, bits of charred metal, ceramic, and plastic littered the decks, and repair crews could be found hard at work every ten meters (at most), as the smell of ozone hung in the air.

Suddenly, Alex lost her footing and floated into a bulkhead.

"Ow, dammit!" she cursed.

"Watch your step, Private," one of the marines cautioned belatedly.

"Yeah, no shit," retorted Alex, nursing the bruise on her forehead.

A moment later, they arrived in the briefing room, where a tall, mostly-bald, squared-jawed Air Force officer met them.

"You must be Colonel Caldwell," deduced Schiller.

"And you would be Captain Schiller," replied Caldwell. "It's good to finally meet you in person."

"I wish it could be under better circumstances," regretted Schiller. "This is Major Grimsby, and Private Russo."

"Glad to have you here," said Caldwell, accustomed to conferring with all kinds of people.

"What's the status of our fleet?" asked Schiller.

"Not good," answered Caldwell. "_Sun Tzu _and _Apollo _engaged the two hives orbiting the third planet. We were able to get a visual on _Sun Tzu_, which I'm sorry to report has been destroyed. We haven't been able to detect or raise a comm link with _Apollo. _We're hoping that they're regrouping at the secondary fall-back point. Given what we know about the Wraith's current abilities, the wizard contingents they carried are presumed dead."

"And what's your status?" asked Schiller.

"We're still space-worthy," reported Caldwell. "Barely. We've been experiencing intermittent failures in the internal AG systems, which are pretty low on the priority list at the moment."

"Yeah, Russo found that out the hard way on the way in," noted Schiller.

"What's the status of your ship," asked Caldwell.

"Our damage is fairly minimal," answered Schiller. "But we had little more than a skeleton crew when we launched. As it currently stands, we've lost most of our pilots, and most likely our entire mortal and wizard infantry contingent."

"I can confirm the loss of your wizard contingent," corrected Caldwell. "As for the mortals, the Wraith are saving them for later feeding. Fairly standard procedure."

"How do you know this?" asked Schiller.

"Dr. McKay managed to send a short coded signal using the Wraith's jamming field array," revealed Caldwell. "The good news is, he believes he's identified the ship he's aboard as Valenczak's ship."

"Fat lot of good that'll do us," snarked Grimsby.

"We still have one marine platoon," argued Caldwell, annoyed by Grimsby's pessimism. "Not to mention an F-302 squadron."

"Forget about the 302's," said Schiller. "Those darts will just use them for target practice. But the marines we could maybe use."

"Captain, you're not seriously considering this," argued Grimsby. "The Wraith have surely become more powerful. With our diminished manpower, I can't see as how we could cast a powerful-enough spell to open another window."

"We don't need to get an entire battalion in," countered Schiller. "Just two squads. Even if they can't take out Valenczak, they can at least locate McKay and disable the jamming field so we can get Colonel Caldwell's people out."

"Frankly, sir," Grimsby said coldly. "I don't see as how they're our problem."

"You slimy, miserable piece of..." began Caldwell.

"It's all right, Colonel," intervened Schiller. "He's my officer; I'll take care of him."

Caldwell nodded in deference to Schiller's command.

"Now you listen to me, Major," admonished Schiller. "If it weren't for Caldwell's 302's covering our six, we wouldn't be standing here debating this. Whether you like it or not, the mortals are the heart and soul of this operation, and _everybody's _best hope for survival. So if there's anything we can do help them, we're damn well going to do it. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Grimsby said timidly.

"All right, Colonel," declared Schiller. "Let's see what we can do here."

"Good," approved Caldwell. "_Gandalf _is in better shape and more heavily-armed than the _Daedalus_. I'll remain here to oversee repairs. Major Lorne will take command of our reserve troops and accompany the _Gandalf _back to the fourth planet."

"Agreed," approved Schiller. "Anything else?"

"We also have a puddle jumper," added Caldwell. "It's a small vessel with a cloaking device. It's weapons are no match for who we're dealing with, but it might be useful for close-in recon."

"We'll take it," accepted Schiller.

Caldwell nodded. "I'll arrange to have it transferred to your fighter bay."

"Excellent," said Schiller. "Let's get moving on this."

"Captain on deck," announced Hemmeryn as Schiller and Alex returned to the bridge, along with Major Lorne, a handsome broad-shouldered fellow of medium height with brown hair.

"As you were," ordered Schiller. "Russo, put me on the horn."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Justin, activating the PA system.

"Attention all hand, this is Captain Schiller," began the captain. "This is a dark hour for all of us. We've all suffered the loss of our beloved comrades of arms. We've all seen horrors that no one, wizard or mortal, should ever have to see. And from what we can see, the enemy that stands to wipe out both of our worlds is more powerful than ever.

"However, after conferring with our mortal allies, I am convinced that their remains a hope of victory, however faint. We've received intelligence that will allow us to strike at the very heart of the enemy. We will return to the Wraith hive ship, and if possible, we will assist in deploying a second wave of marines.

"Please be aware, the odds of success remain slim. The last time I said this, I left you with the choice to stay or go. But knowing that you chose to stay at that time - " Schiller looked over at Alex. "Some of you with stubborn determination – lets me know that I don't need to ask that question again; that I can be certain of your commitment and resolve to see this through to the end, whatever that may be.

"Many in the wizard world do not believe in us, using terms of derision such as 'Wizard Farce'. Perhaps at one time, that was true. But as for you, I want you to meet whatever awaits you today knowing that you have proven the naysayers wrong. When you go down to your graves, be that today, or a thousand years from now, I want you to be proud to call yourselves wizard warriors."

With that, applause and shouts echoed throughout the ship.

"Ensign Russo," commanded Schiller with a smile as he took his seat. "Set an intercept course for that Wraith ship."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Justin. "Setting a course once more into the breach."

Two hours later, the _Gandalf _arrived in a high orbit above the fourth planet.

"Orbit established, sir," reported Justin. "Commencing scans."

"Several small vessels within weapons range," added Tutor. "Near as I can tell, we haven't been detected."

"We'd better get moving before they do," urged Schiller. "Russo, find me a hole."

"Yes, sir."

After about twenty minutes of scanning, Justin reported his findings.

"I think I may have something, sir."

"What is it, Ensign?" asked the captain.

"There's a small shield anomaly in the ship nearest the planet," elaborated Justin. "It's probably what Dr. McKay used to get his message out. We can probably wedge it open wide enough to beam in our marines. Only problem is, even using all available magical power, we'll have to get in close."

"Very well," acknowledge Schiller. "We'll use the puddle jumper."

"The puddle jumper doesn't have a transporter," objected Lorne.

"We'll send a wizard along; use a teleport spell," explained Schiller. "Your men should have one along anyway."

"A moment please, sir?" requested Hemmeryn.

Schiller nodded, and Hemmeryn joined him behind the captain's chair.

"We'll have to send Grimsby," whispered Hemmeryn. "He's the only one who's qualified."

"At this point, I'm not sure we can trust him," noted Schiller.

"Perhaps I should go," offered Hemmeryn.

"I need you here," declined Schiller.

"I'll go," interrupted Justin, having overheard the conversation.

"No, I'll go," argued Alex.

"I don't recall asking your input," admonished Schiller.

"I know," acknowledged Alex. "But hear me out."

Schiller nodded. "Private, Lorne, you're with me. Hemmeryn, you have the conn."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Hemmeryn.

"Okay, Russo," said Schiller as they entered the briefing room. "Start talking."

"You know that Colonel Sheppard has been training me," began Alex.

"I'm aware of that," said Schiller.

"Well, what you don't know is that Dr. McKay has also been training me," revealed Alex.

"Training you in what?" asked Schiller.

"Combat magic, sir," answered Alex.

"And just how the hell did he manage that?" demanded Schiller.

"He's been observing the wizard specialists he's been working with," explained Alex. "He's taught me more about combat magic in a week than most grunts learn in a year."

"I still don't think you're ready," argued Schiller.

"Maybe not," granted Alex. "But under the circumstances, I think I might be the best chance we have."

Schiller sighed. "I don't know, Russo."

"Well," added Alex. "Since you haven't said otherwise, Colonel Sheppard is still my commanding officer. I wouldn't be where I am now if not for him and Rodney and Teyla. I owe it to them to try and give them a fighting chance."

"Lorne, what do you think?" asked Schiller.

"It's not the craziest idea I've ever tried," noted Lorne. "I think it just might work."

Schiller nodded. "Get your people ready, Major," ordered Schiller. "And as for you Russo, you'd better gear up. You launch in one hour. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir," Alex and Lorne said in unison.

Justin made his way to the armory, where he found Alex getting into her combat gear.

"Shouldn't you be on the bridge?" scolded Alex.

"The captain gave me permission to see you off," explained Justin.

Alex could see the real story in his eyes.

"But you really came down here to talk me out of this," surmised Alex.

"Alex, this insane," pleaded Justin.

"It'll be fine," assured Alex. "Sheppard and Rodney made sure of that."

"Even so," argued Justin, "There's a better-than-even-money chance that you won't come back."

"Funny," said Alex, turning her attention back toward her boots. "I distinctly recall saying the exact same thing to you. It didn't stop you; why should it stop me?"

"That's different!" defended Justin. "You're my little sister. I'm supposed to protect you."

"So this about some Neanderthal macho-male thing?" retorted Alex. "Gosh, Justin, I thought you of all people would be above that sort of thing."

"You know that's not what I meant," insisted Justin.

Alex sighed. "I know. I'm just not sure I can make you understand why I need to do this."

Justin shook his head. He knew at that point that he was wasting his breath trying to discourage her.

"So if you don't make it," said Justin, beginning to choke up. "What should I tell mom and dad?"

"You can tell them your sister died a hero," interrupted Lorne, "Defending their lives and their freedom."

It was then that Alex finished gearing up. As she stood up, she looked like a modern-day knight, with armor inspired by medieval design, in Wizard Force red and black, with a more modern helmet, and military-style flak goggles, and of course, gauntlets, the signature weapon of the wizard warrior, upon her hands.

"How do I look?" asked Alex.

"Like a soldier," said Justin with tears in his eyes, throwing his arms around his sister. Somehow, she managed to feel his embrace through all her armor.

"I love you," said Justin, wanting it to be the last thing he ever said to his sister.

"I love you, too," she reciprocated.

A few minutes later, Alex took the sole empty seat aboard the puddle jumper, surrounded by marines twice her size.

"Hey Major," said one of the grunts. "Who's the kid?"

"That's no kid, Sergeant," scolded Lorne as he took the pilot's seat. "That's a soldier."

After running through the preflight checklist, Lorne radioed the bridge.

"_Gandalf_ command, this is Jumper One," said Lorne. "We're strapped in and ready to go."

"Stand by, Jumper One," replied Justin.

"All right, people," announced Schiller. "Jumper One will be silent and cloaked, so we won't be able to detect her on approach. That means we'll have to do this by dead reckoning." Schiller turned his attention to Justin. "Russo, send them off."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Justin as he opened the bay doors and radioed Lorne "Jumper One, _Gandalf _command. You are clear for launch."

"All right, let's kick this pig!" said Lorne, rousing his men as he engaged the cloak, lifted off the deck, and headed away from the _Gandalf _toward the Wraith ship.

"Jumper One will be in position in three minutes," reported Justin at the prearranged time.

"Deploy the main wand," ordered Schiller.

"Main wand deployed," reported Tutor.

"All hands, prepare for spell assist," announced Schiller on ship-wide.

"All wizards in position," reported Tutor.

"Stand by to disengage cloak and raise shields on my mark," ordered Schiller, taking hold of the handles, reciting the familiar incantation. "Our powers combine, yours with mine, as in the sand we draw the line!"

Schiller used the combined powers of the wizards on board to build the spell to a level that stretched the capacity of the main wand.

"Mark!" yelled Schiller, prompting Tutor to drop the cloak and raise the shields. Within a split second, Schiller let the spell loose on the Wraith.

"I think that's our cue," said Lorne, observing the energy beam. "Everybody pumped?"

"Yes, sir!" they shouted in reply.

"Russo," ordered Lorne. "Do your thing."

"Marines, soldiers of eternal faith," chanted Alex, eyes closed, teeth clenched, and fists in the air. "Take us to strike at the heart of the Wraith!"

The teleport commenced, but took some time.

"They've got some kind of automated magic defense, sir," reported Tutor.

"Russo just needs a few more seconds," replied Schiller. "I can feel her getting through."

Without warning, a feedback pulse came through the magic beam, sending a power surge through the wand system. Schiller let go reflexively, finding burns on his hands. Several others were not so fortunate, having been knocked out of their seats by the brunt of the surge. As Justin heard the profuse coughing of a badly-charred Tutor, he knew her to be one of them.

"Medic to the bridge!" ordered Justin over the comm system.

"They'll have their hands full," noted Schiller.

"Did Alex and the marines get through?" asked Justin.

"I think so," volunteered Tutor between coughs.

"We'll worry about that later," interjected Schiller. "Hemmeryn, take over tactical. Russo, get us out of here."

"Aye, sir," they said in unison.

"Shields are at thirty percent," reported Hemmeryn.

"AG subsystem failures on decks five, six, and ten," added Justin. "Wand system is completely fried."

"Dammit," cursed Schiller.

Justin and Hemmeryn did their best to steer the _Gandalf _out of harm's way, but limited to mortal weaponry, found themselves falling father behind with each passing moment. Just then, a ray of hope came out of the black.

"I've got a visual on something," reported Justin. "It's the _Apollo_, sir."

Though the Air Force ship remained unable to communicate with the _Gandalf_, they nonetheless made their intentions clear that they would cover the wizards' six as both made their way to safety. The F-302's the _Apollo _launched had no illusions about actually coming back, sacrificing themselves to provide the darts and small vessels enough of a distraction to allow the two main vessels to reach safety.

"Cloaking device is operational," reported Hemmeryn.

"What about the _Apollo?_" asked Schiller, not wanting to leave his comrades in arms behind.

"I have an idea, sir," volunteered Justin.

"Let's hear it," said Schiller.

"Since magic subsystems are fried anyway, I think I can transfer enough power from them to extend our cloak around the _Apollo_," suggested Justin. "We'll have to get in close."

"Go for it," agreed Schiller.

"Aye, sir," said Justin as he piloted the wizard ship toward _Apollo's _underside until their shields came into contact.

"I have radio contact," announced Justin.

"_Gandalf_, what the hell are you doing?" demanded the voice of Colonel Ellis.

"Sorry, Colonel," apologized Schiller. "We think we can get our cloak around you, but we'll have to get a little cozy, and you'll have to drop your shields."

"You'd better be right about this," warned Ellis, reluctantly agreeing to the plan.

"_Apollo's _shields are down."

"Double-time, Russo!" prodded Schiller.

"Aye, sir," responded Justin. "Cloak is now extended around both ships, and we're now on a parallel course."

"Wraith are breaking off pursuit," added Hemmeryn.

As soon as they were safely on course to the fall-back point, Ellis ringed aboard the _Gandalf _to meet with Schiller.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Colonel," greeted Schiller as the rings returned to the platform and revealed the middle-aged African-American Colonel Abe Ellis.

"Likewise, Captain" reciprocated Ellis.

"What's the news from the third planet?" inquired Schiller, getting straight to business as they made their way to the briefing room.

"Those ships are decoys, Captain," reported Ellis. "They've got plenty of enhancements, but there's nothing important going on there."

"I see _Sun Tzu _found that out too late," noted Schiller.

"Unfortunately, yes," confirmed Ellis. "So would you mind telling me what exactly you were trying to pull back there?"

"McKay managed to send us some intel on Valenchak's ship," answered Schiller. "We sent a marine unit aboard with a wizard escort."

"Did it work?" asked Ellis.

Schiller sighed. "We can only hope so."

Sensing that he had much weighing on his mind, Hemmeryn took the helm and granted Justin half an hour's leave. During that time, he made his way to Sickbay, where he found a number of severely wounded patients, including the one he came to see.

"Tutor," he exclaimed as he ran to the side of the elf whose blond hair had been charred gray.

"Justin," she croaked. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"It's gonna be alright," assured Justin, not really knowing what he was saying.

"No," corrected Tutor. "Taking that blast caused entropic exhaustion. There's nothing they can do for me."

"Don't you dare give up on me!" urged Justin.

"I've given all the fight I have in me," declared Tutor. "I think I've earned some rest."

Justin nodded.

"I'm sorry nothing ever happened between us," regretted Tutor.

Justin could only shake his head forlornly.

"You don't have to say it back," said Tutor. "I know your heart belongs to Juliet. Promise me you'll get home safe to her."

"I promise," agreed Justin.

"Good," approved Tutor. "Enough pain and suffering has come of this mission."

Justin stayed at her side and held her hand until Hemmeryn called him back to the bridge.

"I need to go," lamented Justin.

"Good," said Tutor. "Sitting here watching me die sounds really unpleasant."

"I'll never forget you," said Justin as he returned duty. They were the last words Tutor Hatchback ever heard.

**End of Chapter Eight**

_Mant have fallen along the way, but hope survives. S__tay tuned!_


	9. Hell Hath No Fury

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Chapter Nine: Hell Hath No Fury

Alex teleported herself and Major Lorne's platoon out of the puddle jumper. When they rematerialized, they found themselves swimming in a slurry of indescribably-vile refuse.

"The bilge tanks?" said Lorne, trying to suppress his gag reflex. "Really, Russo?"

"It was the last place they'd be expecting guests," explained Alex.

"True enough," granted Lorne. "We'd best get moving. Wraith ships have a digestive system."

The troops found a refuse hatch wide enough to shimmy up, and exited into an empty sleeper bay.

"I don't suppose you've got a cleanup spell up your sleeve," requested Lorne.

"I think I can manage that," obliged Alex.

"Good," approved Lorne. "As it is, the Wraith can smell us on the other side of the ship."

Alex zapped herself and the troops into clean, fresh-smelling gear, then followed up with another smell.

"Olfactoria negatoria," she chanted.

"What was that for?" asked Lorne.

"It's an odor-blocking spell," explained Alex. "I use it when I have to get something out of my brother Max's room."

"Good thinking," praised Lorne. "Let's move out."

Normally, Lorne would've split the troops up into teams. However, having only one wizard in their company required them to stick together.

"Russo, take point," ordered Lorne.

Alex nodded, and moved to the front of the line, the muzzle of Lorne's rifle closer to her head than she would've liked. They proceeded a few meters before Alex signaled a halt. She held out the palm of her gauntlet and produced a metal plate across the deck in front of them.

"Bottomless pit," noted Alex. "An oldie but a goody."

They soon came to a nexus of the dark, narrow corridors, containing some kind of control panel. Instinctively, they backed up against the bulkhead. Alex produced a small mirror, and carefully stuck a fingertip around the corner, viewing the telemetry on the mirror.

"Clear," she whispered, at which Lorne signaled the rest of his men forward, stationing them at the various exits.

"Okay, Russo," said Lorne. "You think you can use this thing to find what we're looking for?"

Alex immediately thought that Justin would be better at this, and wondered if he should've been the one to go along after all. Nonetheless, she knew this was no time for self-doubt. She placed her gauntlet on the control panel, and concentrated on interfacing with the alien computer system.

"Find anything?" prodded Lorne.

"Yeah, Rodney's alive," informed Alex. "Half a klick aft, twenty meters down."

"Alright, let's get him out of there," ordered Lorne.

Progress was incredibly slow as the unit took a circuitous route to their destination to avoid, as much as possible, attracting any unwanted attention. This gave Alex plenty of time to contemplate the general creepiness of the dark, cramped, surreal landscape that comprised the interior of the Wraith hive ship.

_No need to go to hell if you die here_, thought Alex to herself. _You're already there._

They came to a Y-junction, and Alex peered tentatively around the corner. She immediately snapped back when she saw a Wraith regular approaching.

"Hit the deck," Alex whispered to Lorne, who gave the order using hand signals. A moment later, the Wraith passed through the empty corridor he'd expected to find. Some moments after he'd passed, the deck morphed back into soldiers, revealing the actual deck beneath them.

"Cripes, that hurt!" complained one of the marines.

"Nice work, Russo," praised Lorne.

"It was a shot in the dark," puzzled Alex. 'It shouldn't have worked."

"Even so, I'll take it," argued Lorne.

As they attempted to cross the corridor where the human foodstuffs were being held, their good fortune ran out. A near miss from a stunner indicated to Lorne that they'd been detected.

"It was fun while it lasted," quipped Lorne as one of the men peered around the corner and shot at the three warriors bearing down on them, causing no effect on the warriors and getting the poor soldier stunned.

" Get ready to shoot at their ankles," recommended Alex. "I've got an idea."

Alex cast a spell causing the floor to become slippery. This alone did not cause them to stumble, but the bullets riddling their ankles did. The platoon moved quickly, taking full advantage of the brief moment.

"That was a really basic spell," noted Alex as they hustled. "I can't believe it actually worked."

"They were probably anticipating something fancy," theorized Lorne. "They weren't expecting the kids' stuff."

With a man down, the unit needed to find a place to lay low for a few minutes. They found what appeared to be a lab. After they entered, Alex blasted the control panel to seal it shut. What she saw when she turned around truly horrified her. The remains of several wizards she recognized hung on the wall. She had almost lost control of her stomach when she saw one of them move.

"Dollface?" he croaked.

"Staff Sergeant," cried Alex, who'd have been unable to identify him if not for his use of that particular appellation. "I thought you were dead."

"Not quite," explained the severely-aged Kovalchik. "I helped McKay get his message out. When they caught us, they kept sucking the life out of me and putting it back in, trying to break me. But they couldn't. So they just left me here to die slowly."

"We'll get you out of here," promised Alex, fiddling with the Staff Sergeant's restraints. "It's gonna be okay."

"Forget about me, Russo," urged Kovalchik. "My tour is done."

"No," cried Alex. "Don't give up. We need you. We need a real wizard warrior, not some misfit like me."

"That's enough of that crap out of you," admonished Kovalchik. "You got yourself and these men here. That's more than enough for me to know that Crumbs was right about you."

Alex nodded, but continued to manipulate the Staff Sergeant's restraints. When she had him free, two marines caught him, and laid him with dignity on the deck. As soon as they'd done this, Kovalchik reached over to his shoulder, tore off his chevrons, and affixed them to Alex's shoulder.

"This is your op now, Staff Sergeant," said Kovalchik. "Don't let me down."

The old warrior breathed his last, and Alex closed his eyelids.

"You need a minute, Sergeant?" asked Lorne.

Alex shook her head after a moment, still getting used to the rank.

"I'm good," she said.

"Let's move out," ordered Lorne.

As they moved along, Alex contemplated the horror she'd just seen. A wave of dread washed over her, as she pictured a similar fate for her family, her friends, her comrades in arms. She even wept for Gigi, for in Alex's eyes, as cruel as her blond high school rival had been, not even she deserved so heinous a fate. Try as she may to find strength and motivation in such grim thoughts, she found them driving her deeper still into melancholy.

Meanwhile, at the fall-back point, Captain Schiller met with the two other commanders to update the battle plan, such as it was.

"Here's the facts," began Schiller. "We've all sustained heavy casualties. The _Gandalf's _wand system is inoperative, but shields and other defensive systems are operating at acceptable levels. Both the _Apollo _and the _Daedalus _are minimally space-worthy, but the _Apollo _lacks hyperdrive. We're safe for now, but sooner or later, the Wraith will find us here. We still don't know whether our infiltration team has had any success or not, and we won't know until we take a closer look. At this point, I'm open to suggestions."

"I recommend sending the _Gandalf _in," suggested Ellis. "Transfer any casualties who are stable enough to move to the _Daedalus, _The _Apollo _will stand guard. That way, the _Daedalus _can make a run for it if anything else goes wrong."

"Caldwell, any objections to that plan?" asked Schiller.

"None, Captain," replied Caldwell.

"All right," declared Schiller. "Let's get to work."

The transfer of personnel took about an hour. When they finished, the remaining bridge officers aboard the _Gandalf _took their posts.

"You up for this, Russo?" asked Schiller.

"Yes, sir," said Justin, having chosen to draw strength from his grief rather than give in to it.

"Very good," said Schiller. "Take us back into the lion's den."

As for Lorne and his troops, they found themselves overwhelmed by an onslaught of Wraith, both regulars and warriors. Alex cast every combat spell she could think of, but could only hold them at bay for a few moments. Eventually, one of the ghastly gray figures joined the fight whose powers proved more than a match for Alex's. The warriors began stunning and hauling away the mortals.

The new assailant sifted through the chaos and found his way to Alex. He shoved her against the wall, and breathed his foul breath in her face, as was the custom of his kind.

"Dude, I have personal space issues!" protested Alex, somehow finding one last sarcastic remark within her.

The Wraith grinned diabolically as his feeding hand passed through Alex's armor like a sword through spiderwebs, ignoring her futile attempts to pull him off of her as he attached his claw between her breasts and began to slowly and painfully extract the life-force energy from her. Adding to the agony of the process itself was the sight of her hands upon the Wraith's arms, which were becoming increasingly wrinkled and frail.

A deep-seated despair washed over Alex, for she knew at this moment that all was lost. Valenczak and the Wraith had set a trap for both the wizards and the mortals, which would give them the power they needed to launch their invasion. The fight would not end here, but never again would the forces of good be on the offensive.

Valenczak and the Wraith would push the resistance back rapidly. Perhaps in a month, perhaps in a year, perhaps in ten, the victory would be theirs. The world as Alex and all she cared about knew it was coming to an end. Wizards and mortals would continue to exist only as food and slaves for the new masters of the universes.

Worse than that, Alex feared that it had been all her fault. If only she had been more diligent and focused in her training, she thought, Kovalchik could've turned her into a real soldier, one capable of actually giving the mortals a fighting chance. As her despair mixed with shame, she let go and welcomed death.

And yet, death did not come. Deep within her bosom, she felt her despair transform into something else entirely, the likes of which she'd never before experienced. She had no idea what it was, but she knew it was powerful. She also sensed that it was connected to the energy stream between her and the Wraith. As she pictured it in her mind's eye, it was something she could influence...something she could control....something she could reverse.

Alex did just that, and in the blink of an eye, she felt her strength and her youth returning. As the Wraith tried to pull himself away but found he could not, she realized she could keep draining power from him. In a matter of seconds that played out as an eternity in Alex's mind, her attacker weakened and decayed to the point that his dead husk fell off of its own accord.

Her hair glowed cobalt blue, and flowed backward as though it were blown by a hurricane-force wind, and her normally-brown eyes shone a blindingly-bright green. The power Alex felt within her bosom came from a place outside of herself, a place far beyond her understanding. Though her despair had begun it, the power now came through wrath; wrath toward those who would destroy everyone and everything she ever cared about; existence itself. She didn't know what this power was, where it came from, or how long it was hers to wield. But wield it she had to.

"It's like they say," declared Alex with reverb in her voice, "The gloves are off!"

With that, she cast aside her gauntlets, sensing that she no longer required them. A few foolish Wraith attempted to engage her, and within seconds, met the same fate as their fallen comrade. The remaining Wraith fled, whom Alex decided she would deal with presently. She held out her palms and raised her arms, awakening the stunned mortals and setting them upon their feet.

"Russo," said Lorne with a mixture of wonderment and fear in his eyes. "What's happened to you?"

"Don't be afraid," she assured him. "Follow me."

Abandoning any illusions he may have had that he was still in charge of this op, Lorne followed quickly behind Alex, signaling his men to do the same.

Meanwhile, the _Gandalf _arrived in high orbit once again.

"Got anything on sensors?" asked Schiller.

"Negative, sir," reported Justin. "Jamming field is still active. Visual only...wait a minute."

"What is it Russo?"

"This doesn't look right," puzzled Justin. "The two hives look like they're getting into position to attack the third."

"It means there's a crisis aboard the third ship," interpreted Schiller as his expression turned to one of pure joy. "Son of a bitch! They got through!"

Alex quickly plowed her way through the Wraith horde, either pushing the aside or draining their energy, as the occasion warranted. Within minutes, they found themselves in the chamber that held Rodney McKay and several other mortals. With a wave of her hand, the biological restraints withered and died, setting them free.

"Alex," greeted McKay. "What happened you?"

"No time to explain," she replied. "Where's Colonel Sheppard?"

"Not a clue," responded McKay. "I guess they finally learned not to incarcerate the two of us together."

"Damn," cursed Alex. "Can you shut down the jamming field?"

McKay nodded. "Just get me to a control console."

Alex led the way out, and Rodney joined the troops following her. A few minutes later, they managed to retrace their steps and find the console Alex had accessed earlier.

"No good," lamented McKay. "This one requires Wraith telepathy."

With a mischievous half-smile, Alex placed one hand on the console, and the other on McKay's forehead, causing his eyes to glow.

"Okay, that works," McKay croaked awkwardly. "Oh, this is so much easier that it usually is. It's actually coming through in English. A little to the left...a little more...a little more. There...jamming field disabled."

With that, Alex released McKay's forehead, causing him to gasp for breath. She then looked out into space in her mind, looked through the cloak, and saw the _Gandalf. _Aboard that ship, all of the mortals from the cell block, as well as Lorne and his troops, appeared on the bridge.

"What the hell are you doing here?" demanded Schiller.

"I don't know, sir," answered Lorne. "Russo just said 'Thank you for your help', and the next thing we know, we're back here talking to you."

"She couldn't have," Schiller muttered incredulously.

"I've got sensors!" reported Justin.

"Bring up the main holographic display," instructed Schiller. "McKay, Lorne: have a seat. The rest of you: Off my bridge!"

"Yes, sir," the said in unison as they headed out.

"Zoom in on your sister if you can," instructed Schiller. An internal scan of a section of the ship came up, filled with Wraith life-signs. These life-signs faded in short-order, however, when they came in contact with the one wizard life-sign:

SSG RUSSO, A. M.  
443989FA  
WFS _Gandalf_  
Infantry

Below the display appeared a graph of Alex's magical stats, all of which were off the chart. Despite her fierce fighting, her heart-rate and respiration appeared normal.

"Ensign, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" asked Schiller in disbelief.

"That my sister is the magical equivalent of an ICBM, sir?" suggested Justin with equal incredulity.

"That's what I'm seeing," confirmed Schiller.

Just then, Alex fought her way into another holding cell, releasing another group of mortal soldiers.

"Go!" she said, flashing them away.

"Sir, a bunch of human life-signs just disappeared," reported Justin.

"I think I know where they went," explained McKay, who had taken the secondary ops panel. "Training bay just reported more soldiers arriving."

"I lost Alex," interjected Justin. "No, wait, I found her again. Now she's on the second ship."

"Reports coming in all over the ship of arriving IOA troops," added McKay.

"Of course," Schiller pieced together. "She's gonna save every last one of them."

Alex did just as Schiller predicted, making her way through the ship and freeing prisoners. The Wraith who stood in her way began to meet increasingly-bizarre fates. These included being phase-shifted and thrown out into space, being crushed to a literal pulp under a massive gravity field, and even fusing two of their heads together such that the conflicting brain signals caused the them to convulse until they broke each other's necks and fell dead.

"Alex just teleported to the second ship," announced Justin. "First ship is...yes, sir, the first ship is headed for the planet."

"Their approach angle is way too steep," observed Schiller.

"And they have multiple hull-breaches," added Justin. "They won't survive reentry."

"She's scuttling the ship," deduced Schiller.

"It would seem so, sir, yes," confirmed Justin.

Since the troops who had beam aboard the ship had mostly been wizards, Alex found very few mortals to teleport back. Thus, she made much shorter work of the second ship, consigning her to the same fate as her sister.

"Alex is back on the third ship," reported Justin. "Several of the smaller craft are attacking, but there's no effect. There's something else, sir. I'm picking up the _Daedalus _and the _Apollo_.

"Drop the cloak and raise shields," ordered Schiller.

"Sir?" asked Hemmeryn.

"That's an order," insisted Schiller.

"Yes, sir," obeyed Hemmeryn.

"Incoming channel from the _Apollo_, sir," announced Justin.

"On speakers," ordered Schiller.

"_Gandalf_, what the hell is going on here?" demanded Colonel Ellis.

"Why don't you tell us, Colonel?" responded Schiller.

"Someone's feeding commands directly to our navigational systems," reported Ellis. "We have no control. I don't know how the hell it started working again, but the hyperdrive is charging."

"I'll explain everything at the debriefing," assured Schiller. "For now, Godspeed."

"You too, Captain," reciprocated Ellis.

With that, the transmission ended, and the two Air Force ships disappeared into hyperspace.

"What's she doing now?" wondered Justin.

"The only thing left to do," answered Schiller.

As Alex gained more and more control over her powers she began walking through bulkheads, headed straight for her destination. When Alex had drained the energy from those hundreds of Wraith, she could sense that much of their energy was being directed elsewhere. She soon began to realize their true purpose, and followed the energy flow to its destination.

It was there that Alex encountered her first real obstacle since her transformation. The force-shield before her put up a great deal of resistance, but she soon found she could pierce it with her hands and pull it apart, as it were a curtain. She walked through the field and allowed it to close behind her, entering the inner door to meet her final opponent.

Inside, she found a room far more elegantly appointed than anything she expected to find on a Wraith ship. With the Gothic arches, pillars, and tapestries, it looked almost like a throne room. Sitting upon the throne, actually a highly-advanced control chair facing away from her, was the traitor who would be king.

"Oh my," said a low, slightly-nasal voice in a tone of smug sarcasm. "Another minor annoyance to deal with."

The chair spun around to reveal a mostly-bald elf with a gray-and-black goatee, clad in a black Indian-style suit, whom Alex immediately identified as Ulysses Valenczak. The old wizard cast an intense beam of energy, which Alex intercepted as casually as she would a Nerf ball.

"That should have vaporized you!" marveled Valenczak.

"Yeah, well, life's full of disappointments," retorted Alex.

"You!" said Valenczak, sizing up his opponent. "I've never seen you before, and yet I know your face!"

"Staff Sergeant Alex Russo," she introduced herself. "Here to hand you your ass."

"Russo?" asked Valenczak. "As in Jerry Russo?"

"Yeah, he's my father," replied Alex, curious as to where he was going with this.

"Of course!" exclaimed Valenczak. "Only the seed of Russo could challenge me in my own lair."

"Dude," chuckled Alex as she traded a few magic blows. "You are making no kind of sense with your corny villain dialog."

"No, of course he wouldn't have told you," said Valenczak.

"Tell me what?" asked Alex, trading a few more blows.

"Your father was believed by many to be destined from birth to be the greatest wizard who ever lived," revealed Valenczak.

"Even you?" asked Alex.

"Yes," affirmed Valenczak. "Though his existence among the mortals was pathetic, in the wizard world he impressed me as being the only human I'd ever encountered, or was likely to encounter, with both the power and the charisma to be the true leader of all wizard-kind."

"And then he disappointed you by marrying my mother," guessed Alex.

Valenczak growled, trading a few stronger blows with Alex.

"And he gave his powers to that decadent oaf Kelbo," lamented Valenczak, "Thus ensuring that they would never be used to their true potential. The fact that he let himself be hoodwinked by that mortal harlot confirmed me in my belief that humans are too weak to lead the wizard world."

"Don't you dare talk shit on my mother!" barked Alex, casting a bolt of energy that Valenczak could barely hold back.

"Forget about her!" urged Valenczak. "Alex Russo, you are not a wizard. You are a god! Your power is wasted serving these insignificant mortals. Ally with me, and I will show you how to make them serve you."

"By slaughtering and eating them like cattle," reviled Alex.

"Your sentimental attachment to these animals disgusts me," retorted Valenczak.

"Yeah," quipped Alex. "And your plan to make the two universes into your own private piss-pot isn't winning any points with me."

Valenczak sighed. "Very well. You leave me no choice but the vanquish you."

Alex grinned. "Let's get ready to rumble!"

Alex and Valenczak danced and flew around one another, throwing and dodging magical attacks of immeasurable power, which quickly vaporized Valenczak's lair, leaving them in an unquenchable fire, contained only by the internal force shield.

"I'm getting massive energy readings from the ship," understated Justin.

"And from the planet," added McKay. "Crust is destabilizing; core temperature is rising. Captain, if we don't leave in five minutes, we won't make it."

"Then five minutes it is," declared Schiller.

The force-shield expanded to try and contain the spells of mass destruction that Alex and Valenczak continued to hurl at one another.

"You're holding back," noted Valenczak. "You don't wish to harm your little friends out there."

"If I were you, I'd be concerned about not losing my support staff," replied Alex.

"These Wraith are inconsequential," argued Valenczak. "I have enough power for now. I can start again with a new hive."

"Too bad you'll never get the chance," countered Alex.

Suddenly, both wizards ceased casting spells, and the flames subsided, leaving them inside a large, spherical hole within the Wraith ship.

"I'm suddenly feeling ravenously hungry," said Valenczak.

"That's because I just created a point singularity in your stomach," revealed Alex "Have a nice one."

Valenczak cried out in agony as the black hole consumed him from the outside in, first his soft tissue, then his bones.

"Ugh," reviled Alex. "That was a lot grosser than I thought it'd be."

With that, she teleported to the bridge of the _Gandalf_, then cast the Wraith ship into the sun with a wave of her hand.

"Get us out of here!" yelled Alex. "There's a black hole on that ship, and it's absorbing all of Valenczak's power."

"That'll destroy the nearest five solar systems!" elaborated McKay.

"You heard your sister," ordered Schiller. "Get us out of here!"

"Yes, sir," obeyed Justin. "Setting a course for the hell out of Dodge, maximum hyperdrive."

"We're not gonna clear the blast at this speed," predicted McKay.

With that, Alex teleported off the bridge and into the engine room. There, she fed her power directly to the hyperspace emitters. The pale blue glow of hyperspace turned bright white as the _Gandalf _sped up for several seconds before dropping out of hyperspace, whereupon Alex collapsed from exhaustion.

"I don't believe it!" exclaimed McKay. "We're halfway across the galaxy."

"Now that we're safe, any suggestions on where to go from here?" solicited Schiller.

"Atlantis base is within a day's flight, sir," noted Justin. "We could send our evacuees back to Earth."

Schiller nodded. "Set a course, Mr. Russo."

"Aye, sir," obeyed Justin. "Course laid in."

"Very good," approved Schiller. "You're relieved, Ensign."

"Sir?" questioned Justin.

"I can handle the helm for awhile," offered Schiller. "Right now, go see to your sister."

"Yes, sir," obeyed Justin.

"I'll see you at the debriefing."

**End of Chapter Nine**

_Though unlike many of my other stories, this story lacks a soundtrack, there are two songs that especially inspired me in my writing._

_For Alex's transformation:_

"Imaginary"  
Written by Amy Lee & Ben Moody  
Performed by Evanescence  
From the album _Fallen _(2003)

_For the story in general:_

"I Don't Care"  
Written by E. Toppinen, A. Gontier, M. Martin  
Performed by Apocalyptica featured Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace  
From the album _Worlds Collide _(2008)

_Two more chapters, I think. Stay tuned!_


	10. The Price of Victory

_A/N: Mage Primal is a concept conceived by Lodylodylody, first introduced in her story _Harper Take a Bite Out of Life. _When I noticed that what I had planned for Alex in this story bore an uncanny similarity to the concept, I asked, and received her blessing to use it my story. Thanks L3!_

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Chapter Ten: The Price of Victory

After unloading their evacuees at Atlantis, the _Gandalf _rendezvoused with the _Daedalus _to assist with repairs on her sister ship _Apollo_. During this time, Captain Schiller met with Colonels Caldwell, Ellis, and Sheppard, as well as Majors Lorne and Grimsby, Dr. Rodney McKay, and Alex Russo for debriefing, while Lt. Commander Hemmeryn oversaw repairs.

"I still can't believe what I'm seeing," marveled Caldwell as they reviewed the sensor telemetry from the battle.

"Tell me about it," concurred Sheppard. "I knew Russo was a badass; I had no idea she packed this kind of punch."

"I still don't understand it," puzzled Grimsby. "Standardized testing placed Private Russo..."

Alex cleared her throat, and Schiller cast Grimsby a dirty look.

"I beg your pardon, _Sergeant_ Russo," Grimsby corrected himself before continuing. "At any rate, she was shown to be a level three wizard at best."

"I was never very good at taking tests," volunteered Alex.

"So what's the deal, Russo?" asked Sheppard. "You evacuated several hundred troops with a wave of your hand, you scuttled two hives, you created a black hole, you remotely flew a ship with a bum hyperdrive out of the solar system, which, by the way, you completely obliterated, and all the while, fragged almost a hundred thousand Wraith. Not that I'm ungrateful for any of that, but seriously, what was going through your head?"

"Yes, pray-tell," reinforced Grimsby. "Where did you learn these spells?"

"I wasn't using any spells," answered Alex. "I mean, I was at first, but those were just the basic ones Dr. McKay taught me. But when that Wraith fed on me, I just felt like all hope was gone for good. I'd never felt so empty in my entire life. And then, something just came along to fill it. And when that happened, I didn't need to cast any spells. I just told people and things what to do, and no matter what it was, they just did it. It was like I could take matter and energy, and do whatever I wanted."

"Mage Primal," Schiller said flatly.

"I beg your pardon, sir?" puzzled Grimsby.

"Mage Primal," repeated Schiller. "I've heard of it, but I've never seen it. It's a state of magic far beyond spells and potions and gadgets. It's when a wizard's life force marries with the unseen and unknown forces that fuel and control all universes. The wizard then gains the ability to manipulate those forces, to control matter, energy, and even space-time itself by sheer force of will. Only wizards of extraordinary natural ability are capable of attaining this state, and many of the most powerful have tried and failed. Less than a handful have ever attained to it, to the point where modern wizard-historians largely regard it as a myth."

"I'm no expert, but I'd say there's something to it," commented Caldwell.

"So just how exactly do you achieve this state?" asked McKay.

"It's not a matter of achievement," explained Schiller. "It can only by means of a combination the most intense and passionate emotions. Tell them what you felt, Sergeant."

"Hopelessness," answered Alex. "Sadness that nothing anyone had every done mattered anymore, grief over the loss of everyone and everything I've ever loved."

"What else?"

"Anger. Anger toward Valenczak and the Wraith, and the desire to utterly destroy every last one of them."

"I'd say she hit on just the right combination," noted Schiller.

"Could she do it again if the need arose?" asked Colonel Ellis.

"I don't think so," answered Schiller. "Mage Primal has been, in all known cases, an involuntary reaction rising out of extraordinary circumstances and the emotions surrounding them. It does indicate, however, that she's an incredibly powerful wizard, and could be of immeasurable value to the Force." Schiller looked over at Alex. "Assuming, of course, you're willing."

"Hell yeah I am," answered Alex. "Now that we're out here, let's finish the job."

"That's what I'm talking about," praised Sheppard.

"Perhaps in time," said Schiller. "For now, we'll be headed back to Earth for a refit of the _Gandalf_ and for additional training."

"No," argued Alex. "We have to help the mortals take care of the Wraith problem once and for all."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," said Grimsby. "The purpose of this mission was to deal with a common threat to both the wizard world and Earth. The Wizards Council will not, however, authorize a continuing alliance."

"Screw the Wizards Council!" retorted Alex. "You know as well as I do the Wraith will just keep trying. And eventually they'll succeed. Nobody's safe, wizards or mortals, as long as they're still out there."

"Your objection is noted, Sergeant," said Schiller, losing his patience.

"Dammit, Schiller!" pleaded Sheppard. "Listen to her! She's the only one of you who's making any kind of sense!"

"Colonel, this is still my operation," growled Schiller. "Until this assignment ends, you'd best not step out of line."

"To hell with you and your baroque policies and procedures!" dissed Sheppard.

"Enough!" interrupted Alex. "We've got to start working together or none of us stands a chance."

"I'd advise you to zip it, Sergeant," warned Schiller, "Or I might be forced to reconsider your offer."

"Fine!" retorted Alex. "If you won't listen to reason, I'll just have to go with Colonel Sheppard."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," said Schiller as he and Grimsby prepared to restrain Alex.

"Try and stop me," challenged Alex.

"I will if I have to," answered Schiller. "I can't allow one of my crew to go rogue."

With that, Alex held her forearms together in front of her face and dropped through the deck.

"Schiller to bridge," called Schiller as and Grimsby ran out of the briefing room. "We've got a rogue wizard attempting to go UA."

"Alex, sir?" asked Justin.

"That's affirmative Ensign," confirmed Schiller. "Can you contain her?"

"I'm trying, sir," replied Justin. "Magic subsystems are still only minimally functional."

"You'd better figure something out fast," urged Schiller. "If she makes it to the naquidah generators, there's nothing we can do."

Wizard personnel throughout the ship tried to restrain Alex, only to find themselves slammed against a deck, a ceiling, or a bulkhead, without so much as a hand lain on them.

"You're closing in on her position, sir," reported Justin. "I don't think you'll be able to do much."

"Try something," urged Schiller. "Anything."

"I have an idea," informed Justin. "But it's a long-shot."

"Let's hear it," prompted Schiller.

"I might be able to beam her magical aura out of her," suggested Justin.

"Get on it!" ordered Schiller.

At that moment, the two officers found themselves staring down the corridor at Alex, whose eyes showed no fear. She then charged at them.

"Russo, now would be a good time," prodded Schiller.

"Yes, sir," obeyed Justin. "Accessing Asgard beam controls, reconfiguring, and...got it!"

At that moment, a glowing ball of energy thump-foomed out of Alex, and she immediately collapsed.

"She's alive," reported Grimsby after taking her pulse. "She's merely unconscious."

"Let's get her to sickbay," instructed Schiller before calling back to the bridge. "Russo, did you manage to capture that aura by any chance?"

"Negative, sir," reported Justin. "I didn't have time to make the adjustments for that. It's dissipated into space."

"Damn!" cursed Schiller, regaining his cool before answering Justin. "Good work, Ensign."

"Yes, sir," replied Justin.

A moment later, Hemmeryn stood up to leave the bridge.

"I need to use the head," he declared. "You have the conn, Ensign."

"Aye, sir," answered Justin.

Alone on the bridge, Justin discreetly opened the control cabinet under his console, and carefully removed one of the control crystals.

The _Gandalf _had a slightly more comfortable version of a medieval dungeon for a brig. Having spent the last two weeks there, Alex had done a good deal of thinking. She regretted absolutely nothing she'd done. Thanks to her, the universes would live on to fight another day. And even though her escape attempt had failed, she still believed it had been the right thing to do, and was prepared to accept whatever punishment the Council decided to mete out. She had been contemplating these notions yet again when she had an unexpected visitor.

"Captain," she greeted, standing at attention.

"As you were, Sergeant," said Schiller, taking a seat just outside the cell. "I have some good news: You're out of here in three days."

"Really?" disbelieved Alex. "You're not gonna have me spent the next hundred years as a dung beetle?"

"No, I've decided to write your little stunt up as an adverse reaction to a magical overload," continued Schiller.

"That's not how I remember it," replied Alex.

"Well, then I'd suggest you keep that yourself," advised Schiller. "Unfortunately, the first requirement of serving in Wizard Force is that you actually be a wizard. I have no choice but to grant you an honorable discharge."

"Can I ask you something, Captain?" requested Alex. "Off the record?"

Schiller nodded.

"Why are you doing this?"

Schiller sighed. "Because for what it's worth, Russo, I agree with you. I can't let you take your powers with you, but I support you in helping the mortals in their fight against the Wraith."

"I don't know what to say, sir," reacted Alex.

"Don't say anything," responded Schiller. "It didn't happen."

"What didn't happen?" Alex asked rhetorically.

"Exactly," said Schiller as he took his leave.

As soon as the _Gandalf _returned to the Milky Way, the remainder of the mortal contingent beamed down to the nearest planet, and dialed the Stargate. Alex jumped back as the connection established, and the unstable vortex jumped out of the ring.

"Whoa, easy there, Sergeant!" consoled Sheppard.

"I'm a civilian now, remember?" corrected Alex.

"For now," remarked Sheppard.

"What does that mean?"

"Russo, I've got a feeling you can be just as good with a P90 as you are with a wand," said Sheppard. "When you're a little older, I'd be happy to have you on my team."

"That could take awhile," argued Alex. "I'd basically have to start over."

"Last I looked, you were a Staff Sergeant," countered Sheppard. "We could fast-track you through OCS, have you back in Pegasus in two years. Does that sound good to you?"

Alex paused for a moment before answering. "Can I think about it?"

"Absolutely," agreed Sheppard. "I'll just make sure you know how to get a hold of my people."

The party proceed forward through the event horizon. Alex hesitated as her turn came.

"Russo," observed Sheppard, "Are you telling me that after wielding the forces of the universe against the Wraith, you're scared of a little thing like the Stargate?"

"Well, it is my first trip," argued Alex.

"Ah, suck it up!" teased Sheppard.

Alex nodded, took a deep breath, and walked through the event horizon. She soon found herself speeding along a rapid, circuitous path through the cosmos in a purple luminescent tube. A moment later, she found herself standing on a ramp in some kind of bunker. When she saw who was waiting for her at the end of the ramp, she ran up to embrace them.

"Mom, dad!" she cried, after which Jerry and Theresa Russo threw their arms around their daughter.

"Oh, honey," cried Theresa. "We're so happy you're home safe."

"We'd heard something had gone wrong," added Jerry. "We were worried sick about you."

"It did," confirmed Alex. "But it's okay now."

"Alex?" interrupted a familiar voice from behind them. Jerry and Theresa parted, allowing Alex to run up to Harper and throw her arms around her, nearly squeezing the life out of her.

"I missed you so much," gushed Alex, on the verge of tears.

"I missed you, too," reciprocated Harper, savoring every moment of Alex's embrace.

After being allowed a moment to get reacquainted, the base guards ushered them out of the gate room and escorted them to the car awaiting them at the main entrance.

"Oh, hey there, Mr. Shanahan," greeted a passing Airman, causing Jerry to get in his face.

"For the last time," he shouted. "I'm _not _Pete Shanahan. Do I _look _Irish to you?"

"Um, no sir," whimpered the Airman.

"Good," said Jerry, turning his attention back to his family. "I don't know who this Shanahan is, but that's at least the fifth time somebody on this base thought I was him."

"So where's Justin?" asked Harper as their car took them to Peterson Air Force Base to catch their flight.

"He'll be home in about a week," answered Alex. "He's flying the _Gandalf _back to earth."

"And after that?" asked Theresa.

"That's something we all need to talk about when he gets back," said Alex.

"We'll have plenty of time to talk about that later," deferred Jerry. "Right now, your mother and I are just happy to have you back."

**End of Chapter Ten**

_Where will Justin and Alex go from here? Stay tuned for the final chapter and find out!_


	11. Final Chapter

**Wizard Force**

**By**

**James Doyle**

Final Chapter

Major Grimsby reported to Captain Schiller's office shortly after the _Gandalf _set course for Earth.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" greeted Grimsby.

"Have our guests been seen off?" asked Schiller, rising from his seat.

"Yes, sir," reported Schiller. "Gate transit occurred without incident. SGC reports that the mortal contingent has arrived safely."

"Good, good," approved Schiller.

"Is there something else, sir?" asked Grimsby, worried that he hadn't been dismissed as yet.

"As a matter of fact, there is," continued Schiller. "Before Dr. McKay left, he made me aware of some...anomalies in the magic subsystems."

"With all due respect, sir," Grimsby replied uneasily. "That isn't really my department."

"Isn't it?" Schiller asked rhetorically.

"I haven't the foggiest what you're talking about, sir," obfuscated Grimsby.

"Dr. McKay brought to my attention before he left that the wand system shouldn't have overloaded like that," explained Schiller. "In fact, it should have shorted out before anyone got hurt."

"The magic being used by the Wraith was extremely potent, sir," argued Grimsby.

"That was my thought at first," granted Schiller. "But our engineers have verified that the reason the system didn't short out like it was supposed to was because several relays had been bypassed."

"I can't imagine who would do that, sir," deflected Grimsby.

"What's more," continued Schiller, "Preliminary autopsies of the crewmen killed by the overload indicate that they died of premature aging secondary to entropic exhaustion. The Wraith drained their life energy through our beam, which again, they wouldn't have been able to do without help from our end.

"Additionally, before we launched, one of our engineers noted that the database servers in the R&D labs had been improperly connected to the power grid. At the time, they thought it was merely a construction defect. Had they not fixed the problem, the overload of the wand system would've fried the servers...and destroyed any evidence of this."

Schiller brought up a series of files on his holographic display.

"Russo was kind enough to send a few dead Wraith our way for analysis," continued Schiller. "We compared immunological samples to the data on the servers. Our researchers wouldn't have found an anti-serum in a million years. They'd been supplied false data on Wraith biology."

"Sir, if you're accusing me of something, I suggest you come out and say it," demanded Grimsby.

"Yes, of course," continued Schiller. "But before making any accusations, I needed to report my findings to Admiral Crumbs. The Admiral informed me that Councilor Maywin had been responsible for all information passed on to the Wizards Council from the IOA. When questioned, Maywin informed us that he'd delegated the task to a former student of his at WizTech Military Academy...one Nathaniel Grimsby."

"This is outrageous!" protested Grimsby. "What you have is purely circumstantial."

"Maybe," granted Schiller. "But right now, you're our prime suspect."

Schiller activated the comm. "Ensign Russo, report to my office."

"On my way, sir," replied Justin, who arrived presently. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Ensign, I'm placing Major Grimsby under arrest on the charges of Espionage and High Treason," declared Schiller. "Escort the Major to the brig."

Justin grinned. "Yes, sir."

"Off the record, Grimsby," said Schiller just before Justin hauled him away. "Why did you do it?"

"I didn't," denied Grimsby. "But Russo was right about one thing: the Wraith will strike again. And next time, they won't be so easily defeated. Intelligence suggests that they treat those who aid them surprisingly well."

"Get this piece of crap off my deck!" demanded Schiller.

"You heard the captain," said Justin as he took pleasure in shoving Grimsby along. "Let's move!"

Principal Larritate of Tribeca Preparatory Academy was just about to head home when he heard a knock on his office door.

"Yes?" he answered, at which Alex Russo answered.

"Ah, Miss Russo, come in," greeted Larritate. "Have a seat."

Alex took a seat, and accepted the glass of water he offered.

"I must admit I'm surprised to see you," continued Larritate.

"Believe me, I almost didn't come back," noted Alex.

"Yes, I'm sure," said Larritate. "When I received a letter from the Secretary of Homeland Security stating that you would be away indefinitely on a matter of national importance, I believed it to be one of your elaborate hoaxes and verified it with the Department. But I'd imagine you can't talk about that."

"Not really, no," confirmed Alex. "Actually, that's what I'm here about."

"Oh?" responded Larritate.

"Mr. Larritate," said Alex as she stood up. "I came to say goodbye. I'm transferring into the Air Force JROTC program at Lafayette Prep in Colorado. I have a full scholarship."

"You intend to pursue a career in the armed forces," surmised Larritate.

"I do, yes," confirmed Alex. "I'm sure that surprises you."

"Not at all," revealed Larritate.

"Really?" puzzled Alex.

"Miss Russo," explained Larritate, taking a seat on the edge of his desk. "I've had ample justification to expel you for many years. But I saw beyond your underachieving, ne'er-do-well demeanor, and realized that once you found your direction, you'd accomplish great things. I never got through to you, but evidently someone did."

"Yeah," affirmed Alex. "They really did."

"I'm proud of you, Miss Russo," commended Larritate. "And when you're on your furlough from whatever corner of the world they have you in, I hope you'll pay your old teacher a visit."

Alex smiled. "Count on it."

_Two years later_

The _USS George Hammond _approached Atlantis, and prepared to disembark her passengers.

"So explain to me again why you think Alex was more powerful than me," requested 2Lt. Justin Russo, who'd been relieved of helm duty for a day in order to see his sister off.

"It's pretty simple, actually," exposited McKay. "Alex has a much stronger expression of the wizard gene, which combined with the ATA gene from your mother's side."

"It's too bad I didn't get it," lamented Justin. "I'd have made a great jumper pilot."

"Don't worry," assured McKay. "There's plenty to do around here."

"Yeah, it's really cool," interjected Juliet van Heusen, the _Hammond's _new junior engineer, as she caught up to them. "Apparently, a starship is the perfect place for a vampire. There's enough radiation shielding that I can work any time of day or night."

"The healing factor would've made you a great soldier," argued Justin.

"Maybe," granted Juliet. "But I'd rather be here with you."

"I'm glad," said Justin, confirmed that he'd made the right choice by giving up his powers to serve among the mortals.

"Oh, Rodney," added Juliet. "I added that control crystal to the Asgard beam system like you asked."

"Good work, Juliet," said McKay. "Well, let's not keep our public waiting."

With that, the group beamed down to the surface. When they rematerialized, they found themselves standing in front of a stargate, a model more advanced than most of them had seen. They only had a few minutes to admire the massive floating city when Colonel Sheppard arrived to greet them.

"Hey, Russo," greeted Sheppard. "Glad you could make it."

"Glad to be here, Colonel," replied Alex. "Nice place you got here."

"I like to call it 'home'," responded Sheppard. "Speaking of which, Rodney, why don't you show the Lieutenant to her quarters?"

"Right this way," led Rodney.

The next morning, Justin and Juliet had to return to the _Hammond_, and Colonel Sheppard was eager for Alex to get her feet wet. Thus, they said their goodbyes in the gate room.

"Much as I hate to admit it," said Alex to her brother. "I'm really gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you too," reciprocated Justin. "But don't worry. Colonel Carter assures me we'll be back this way fairly often."

"Be safe," said Alex as they hugged.

"You too," replied Justin.

Juliet and Alex also exchanged a brief hug before she and Justin had to clear the scene. As soon as they took their positions behind the controls, a large, imposing fellow with dreadlocks and a beard arrived on the scene.

"Russo, this Ronon Dex," introduced Sheppard. "He's been holding the fort here while Rodney and I were away."

"Good to meet you," said Alex.

"Hi," Ronon replied simply.

Just then, Rodney McKay came running up.

"Nice of you to join us, Rodney," ribbed Sheppard.

"Yeah, I didn't think Alex wanted to shove off without these," he explained, presenting Alex with the wand and gauntlet he'd made for her.

"Do you think it worked?" Justin asked Juliet as they looked on.

"I guess we'll know in a minute," said Juliet.

"Do you really think I need these?" asked Alex.

"You know where we're going," answered Sheppard. "Give it a try."

Alex closed her eyes, twirled her wand and recited the incantation.

"Astria porta transporta..." she began to chant. The symbols lit up as she chanted the name of each in Ancient. When she'd chanted all seven, the vortex sprung forth from the gate and settled back into the shimmering event horizon.

"I'd say it worked," observed Juliet.

Sheppard, McKay, Ronon, Teyla, and Alex stepped side-by-side through the gate, which whisked them away to their routine diplomatic assignment far across the galaxy.

Juliet sighed.

"Something wrong?" asked Justin.

"Not really," answered Juliet. "Just seems like everything is moving so fast these days."

"Yeah, it is," agreed Justin. "Faster than life."

**The End**

_Thanks for reading everybody!_


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